Black Snow
by Gaiden
Summary: Finished!! R & R
1. Hoshi

Disclaimer: I don't own Valdemar, Heralds, or any of Misty's most excellent work. This is for fun not profit, please God don't sue I don't have the cash. This is my take on several things, including Heralds, bushido, and Karse. What I know I learned in Karate, don't get offended if I'm twisting it to my own malicious, evil ends. 

Thanks: MOM I love you. Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that, live with it Miss Sharp: for putting up with me         

Suki 

            " Suki!!!" a shrill nasal voice called. "Suki?" 

She eagerly leaped up.  Her family had served the clan Honda for generations beyond counting it was her honor to serve the Lady Hoshi as her personal servant. Well, mostly servant, Hoshi was less of a noblewoman than any of her family, having earned the imperial dragons only a year before, in record time. Suki knew that she wasn't the sharpest sword in the yard. Why Hoshi had chosen her specifically to be her personal servant was beyond anyone's comprehension, but she served Hoshi as faithfully as she possibly could and that would just have to suffice.

She pulled back the screen and almost, almost disgraced herself by breaking into hysterical laughter. Her efficient, trained, deadly mistress was caught in the straps of her practice armor and was jumping about in circles trying to free her hair from the steel covered leather. 

"Hai?" She sounded as deliberately innocent as possible.

" Get me out of this!"

" Hai, sensei."

She gently helped to extricate the long, jet-black hair out of the buckle and lifted the surprisingly light leather off of her lady's shoulders. 

" Domo arigato"

Suki bowed, and returned the leather to the armor stand. And presented herself before her Lady for further instructions. Hoshi regarded her with the slightly non-existent stare that usually unnerved most people and made a dismissing gesture, Suki understood and bowed herself out of the dojo. Hoshi never liked to be seen at a disadvantage, even so innocent a one as getting caught in armor that usually required two people to remove. She had served Hoshi since both had been teeny tiny tater tots and understood her discomfort. To her memory Hoshi had never been taken off guard by anything, but habit was long standing.  A moment later Hoshi reappeared from the dojo.

"Suki,"

"Hai?"

"Find my brushes"

"Hai, sensei"

Suki quietly went about the small, cabin house and collected the delicate wolf, rabbit and horsehair brushes that Hoshi habitually left around the living area She quietly laid them out in a neat pattern on the writing desk, exactly as she always had. Hoshi acknowledged the offering with a slight nod.

"Sensei? " 

"Food, Suki."

"Hai, Sensei."

She neatly went to the small kitchen area, boiled up a quiet pot of tea, and prepared a delicate arrangement of little meat rolls and rice. Not that Hoshi would have demanded it of her. Suki's mistress, if left to her own devices, would have drunk day old cold tea and eaten dry rice without Suki. It was a matter of pride that Suki took great care of her Lady.  She kept the line of food and hot tea running through the afternoon and into the evening as Hoshi created a work of art that could have been considered a masterpiece, if it hadn't depicted the future, messy death of a nobleman from an assassin's knife. The kanji that accompanied the painting were well formed and delicate. If Hoshi could have read them the message would have been more macabre. Hoshi sighed and finally pushed away from the writing desk. She got up and backed away from the desk until she could dimly make out what it was she created. 

"Bed, Sensei? " 

"Hai, Suki" 

Suki rolled out the sleeping mats and prepared a small bowl of cool water and some rags to counteract the inevitable nightmares and headaches that usually accompanied the visions. This routine had not varied in the years since the first vision. Hoshi had been one of the greatest ninja in the empire, if the youngest as well. Then came the frightening visions that robbed her of her gifted training. No Shogun in his right mind would risk the life of a person who could tell the future of his empire in a senseless assassination attempt. 

Suki sighed and rolled out the mats. The debilitating visions had only started a year ago. She didn't understand where they came from or why they happened, all Suki understood was that her Lady had been a happy assassin for the empire then one night she'd woken up is a state of fright that Suki had never seen in her near twenty years of service. Hoshi stumbled to the writing desk she never used and began to blindly paint a macabre picture. The bloody scene had come to pass a few days later. She'd been politely shunted to a "secure" location in the massive gardens of the imperial palace and "invited" to stay there for as long as the visions kept coming. It had been a year and there had been no abating. It was heresy to think, for the emperor was the voice of the gods, but Suki was convinced that the emperor cared as much for his loyal servants as he did about the statuary in the gardens; pretty, useful, but ultimately replaceable if broken. 

Hoshi stirred, sweating, as the grips of the inevitable nightmare took hold.  Suki dipped the rag into the water and wiped her Lady's head, cooling the feverish heat. 

"Shhh, sensei.  It will fade.  Shhh"

Hoshi woke with a start, spotted Suki, and relaxed, marginally.  "It is an honor to defend your country and your family," she told Suki weakly. 

" It is" Suki agreed, privately thinking that her country and family should have done better to her Lady than forcing her into temple school, when they discovered her eyesight problem and abandoning her to the tender mercies of the imperial system with no hope of advancement or reprieve.  "The gardens of Shaolin are lovely this time of year."

"I cannot leave."  Hoshi muttered wearily.  "The empire needs me to protect her interests.  There is no one else who can do what I do, it is my duty to stay."

"You will die for these visions." 

" Then I will die doing what is right.  I know my place. I was made to be a weapon for the empire. I was given the best training, the best teachers, and the education to kill for my country. It is my duty."

"Then why do you try to convince me of that which I know so well?" 

 Education, Suki, thought disparagingly; they 'educated' Hoshi to kill without question and left her functionally illiterate.  The only reason Hoshi was allowed to keep Suki around was because Suki could read and write. They had cared enough about her martial skill to give her that training, but when it came to anything else her blighted eyes were simply too much a burden for them to care.

"Sleep sensei, all will be well in the morning" 

Sophia

 Herald Sophia Damodred, sister to the king and Monarch's Own Herald, was pissed.  She was deeply pissed.  She was ticked enough to have grabbed the Lord Marshal by the collar and wrung his neck until he passed out.  If it hadn't been for her training, first as a Princess of Royal blood and secondly as a Herald, she would have done just that.  As it stood, she was deeply tempted to simply walk up and relieve him of his post, the hard way. 

_: Patience, Chosen: _

_: I'm being patient.  Don't nag: _

_:IT's not his fault and you well know it:_

_:IT may not be his fault, but it is his responsibility:_

_: Not everyone had the same sense of responsibility as a Herald, dear:_

To this she made a most inappropriate reply, delineating the Lord Marshal's heritage without once including a human being.  The exchange took seconds, but it centered her thoughts and allowed her to address the issue without undue vitriol. 

"My Lord, ' I don't know' is simply not good enough.  Three villages have been put to torch.  The King wants to know why, the King wants to know how, and the King wants to know NOW."  

"Lady Herald, I DON'T KNOW.  If I knew, and believe me I'm trying to find out, I could send the appropriate kind of response.  It may be Rethwellen privateers, it may be Karsite slavers, and it may just be that a cow kicked over a lantern in the barn.  I have people working to find out how it happened, but for the moment there is nothing I can do."

" What about the Nagani?"

"What about them?"

"Do we know if they are responsible?"

"We don't know anything about them except that they are extraordinarily secretive, VERY xenophobic, and incredibly well trained warriors."

  " That seems like a very good combination to me"

" They need our fisher folk's trade too much to put villages to the torch.  Any time they have attacked it was with a small landing party and with a specific objective; they won't kill without provocation.  They're very good at what they do"

" And what is that, my Lord Marshal? " 

"They're traders.  They have a set of islands in Lake Evendim that NO person is allowed to set foot on.  They run interference for smugglers and tradesmen who don't want to deal with import duties.  It's not too terribly legal, but they're a law unto themselves, and very rarely hurt any one in the process."        

" Then how do we know about the so-called warriors and their 'incredible' skill?  "

"They don't like to be short sold, Lady Herald, I'm told they take a very sharp dislike to individuals who try to run around them.  One boatload of disgruntled samurai is enough to send an entire village running for its life"

"How do we know if they didn't take a 'dislike' to us? " 

" It is a possibility, but a very slim one Herald.  They just don't like dealing with too many people like this" 

"Thank you my Lord, you've been most helpful."

The dismissal was curt and abrupt.  The most honorable Lord Marshal bowed shortly and stalked out of Sophia's office.

_: You weren't fair with him, Chosen:_

_ : Hang fair, Dippy, we need answers.  He's just sitting on his butt:_

_: What would you have him do?  :_

_: Great, you go ahead and be rational:_

_: I will:_ Smugness radiated down the link:_ And don't call me 'Dippy'_:

"I'll call you what I please, you're my Companion," She announced to the air.

"Talking to yourself again Sis?"  An extremely handsome, very intelligent young Herald stood in her doorway.  If he hadn't been King he'd be on internship circuit, wooing the fair ladies in the Kingdom.  If he hadn't been her brother she just might have thought about it.  But if wishes were fishes they'd walk on the sea. 

" Stuff it charmer" 

"Hmmm, Let me guess…  The Lord Marshal?"

She stuck her tongue out in reply.

"Yup"

"We need to do something"

"Yes I would agree.  What do you have us to do that is not being done already?"

"Shut up, you're sounding like Dippy.  I want us to catch the individuals responsible and hang them up to dry."

" We're working on it."

"That's supposed to be comforting to the families of the people that were torched for no apparent reason."

He shrugged, "We can't change what's happened.  We can only work to prevent it in the future."

"Well that just sucks."

"Yes it does."

"If you don't quit it, I just might torch you and see how you like it."

_: Go easy sister-mine.  I know you've a soft heart:_

_: It kills me, it really does:_

_: That's why I'm King and you're King's Own.  I'm no kind of Empath, you are:_

"Well screw you"

"Really?"

"OUT" she shouted, " I don't need you doing that here."

_: Really dear, go relax. Find something to take your mind off of it. Gods know we're not perfect; I don't need you falling apart on my hands:_

_: I just might. Can you spare me the last of the day?:_

_: Go, Nothing important is on anyhow:_

_: Bless you:_

Sophia packed up her papers, belongings, and various writing utensils and shoved them untidily into the iron oak desk. The servants would care for it later, now all she wanted was to get away from the lingering feeling of despair and anger that were plaguing the court. Sometimes, she mused, being an empath sucked. The ability to pick up on feelings was damned useful, particularly for a Kings Own, but when everyone was angry or sad or just plain there and thinking. It got to be much.

_:I have yet another something for you to think on Chosen:_

_: Yes, Dippy:_

_: There is one companion here of age that has not yet chosen:_

_: Yes:_

_: She will Choose:_

_: And…:_

_: Her Chosen will be of the Nagani:_

_: What the hell? How is that even possible - they're on a bloody island in the middle of Lake Evendim and they don't talk to people:_

_: Details, the important part is that this Herald will not be like any other. Be prepared. Donni will be leaving soon; her chosen will be frightened, and quite unable to cope with the idea of being a Herald. This whole place will be alien and unfamiliar:_

_: No crap:  _

_: Be serious Chosen, she will be frightened. Do not mistake me; this will be difficult for us all.  Have faith, Companions do not chose wrongly:_

_: All right, that scares me.  What the hell do you mean?  You don't say things like that unless you are anticipating some serious difficulties:_

_: She's been raised differently than we would anticipate:_

_: Dippy…:_

_: She's an assassin:_

_: A what?:_

_: You heard me.  She has a good heart, though.  Remember that:_

_: Does this mean that the Nagani have been torching our villages? :_

_: That I don't know.  We aren't all foreseers:_

_: Great:_

Hoshi

It was a dream.  That much she was aware of.  The slightly disoriented feeling that she'd come to associate with seeing what would come to pass crept over her.  Fear began to trickle in; she steeled herself for the debilitating vision.  Surprisingly, there was no violence, no gore, and no anger.  It was simply peaceful.  Then came the voice.

" I Choose you.  Of all in this world and in the next I Choose you.  I am yours, you are mine, and you will never be lonely again."

Hoshi woke up with a start.  This was not at all what she expected.  She knew, with the same absolute certainty that she knew the truth of the other visions whatever had just happened was important and irrevocable.  

"Suki"

"Hai?"

She breathed a sigh of relief.  Suki was still here and all was still well.  "Find me a map of the Great Sun Sea."

Thanking her Gods for the gift of a wonderful servant, Suki asked no questions and did not wonder at the absurdity of the request.  Hoshi was unable to read or write, her eyesight was too poor, what she wanted with a map was unknown, but her instincts compelled her to find one.  Suki came back and handed the thin rice paper over.  Hoshi felt the surface, the rough ribs of the paper interrupted by the smooth ink.  

"Here, mark here."

Suki went and returned with a small brush.  Hoshi felt the cool drop of ink on her fingertip.  

"What is there sensei?"

"Our future."

Captain Barton

Captain Barton was a happy man. His ship, the Queen's Pleasure, had just finished a run by the islands of Nagano. They'd made several successful trades with the inhabitants. Everything was peachy keen, and he was heading home to Belhaven to unload and re-supply.  Life was really good, and then there was a disturbance. A small ship was sighted off the port bow. They were flashing a distress signal. 

"Oh crap. Haul over, lads we've got us a SOS"

The fisher folk, skilled at all form of waterborne travel, quickly hauled out the rudder and turned out to pick up the ship. When the lads pulled out the two inhabitants Captain Barton had even more cause for concern. One looked like a noblewoman, from the cut of the clothes, and the other was some sort of warrior or guard.  He'd never seen one of the Nagani not do something positively deliberate on the water. They weren't in any kind of distress; the small vessel was in perfect condition. This didn't bode well. 

"Um…Good Morning Ladies"

The short one who was dressed in armor and had two sword-like things strapped to her back turned to the other and translated his words into Nagani.  Good, he thought, one of them can understand Valdamaran.  It wasn't too terribly unusual, a lot of the samurai he'd encountered had a basic understanding of some Valdamaran, and it helped for the trade business.  The guard listened to the noblewoman for a second and then turned to face him. 

" Good Morning"

The words were slow and clear, with very exaggerated diction.  Obviously someone wasn't used to speaking his tongue. He studied the guard for a second; she was dressed in a variation of the samurai armor that was common to her people.  It was lighter, less flashy and bulky, but seemed to cover all of the vital areas. She wore calf length boots, reinforced with steel ribbing; some sort of soft leathers with disc sized steel inserts, and some substantial shoulder, chest and arm plating. She was also very short.  Short was not unusual for her people, but Barton had a twelve year old son who was taller than she.  He cautioned himself to not underestimate the women because they were small.  Both could likely mop his face on the deck if they chose. 

" Domo Arigato" Said the taller woman, relatively speaking, and she bowed.  Barton recognized the gesture and the words. 

" You're welcome, I'm glad we could help."  He bowed in return.    

"Have… you…passage?"  The guard asked slowly.

"Passage?" They wanted a ride?

"Yes, …passage."

" Where to?"

"Belhaven"

Oh, crap.  He swore to himself, how the devil had they known his homeport.  He snatched a look at the guard.  She wasn't even looking at him, it seemed as if she was staring at a point about two paces behind where he was standing.  They knew exactly where he was heading and had come out there deliberately.  Hot water seemed to rise up to his neck. 

"Um… yes I can get you to Belhaven"

"…But?"  The guard asked.  Damn she was quick.

"Well, its not exactly usual for you to come asking for a ride."

  The guard raised a puzzled eyebrow.  Crud, she doesn't understand. 

 " Why ask?"

The guard understood that, she turned to the lady and said something in their language.  The lady responded by removing a folded up piece of paper from her belt pouch.  The guard disagreed, that much he could understand.  The Lady won the silent argument. 

He looked at the paper he was passed and his heart nearly stopped.  It was an exact drawing of his mooring at Belhaven except there was a rider less Companion standing on the dock waiting expectantly. There was no way on the Gods green planet that they could have gotten this level of detail unless that Companion was waiting for one of them.  Joy. 

" Alright, I'll get you to Belhaven"

"Yes?" 

"Yes"

 The women nodded in acknowledgement, not at all surprised at his assent.  Heralds, he thought, can't live with them, can't live without them.

" Hold up."

They turned to look at him expectantly. 

" It'll take a few days to get back. What should I call you by 'till we get there?"

"Hoshi" said the guard.

"Suki" said the lady.

"I'm Johan Barton, Captain of this vessel."

"Domo Arigato, Captain Barton."

"You're welcome."

Belhaven

            A rider less Companion in any part of Valdemar was an object of curiosity. All knew that the Companion was seeking someone to be chosen. So when the Companion Donni appeared at Belhaven she was trailed by every man, woman and child of age to be chosen to see who she would pick. Surprisingly she didn't choose anyone, but merely presented herself at the village inn to be relieved of her tack and fed a good meal.  For about a week she hung around the area, obviously waiting, and they surmised that she was waiting to choose someone who was out on the ships. Speculation ran rampant. 

            "I'll bet she Chooses Jerold, he's right around the age, and he's really good and sweet"

            " Nope, my money's on Garth, he's always been wanting to be chosen."

At first sight of the Queen's Pleasure half the townsfolk ran down to the docks with Donni, who had presented herself to be re-tacked that morning. She stood calmly on the dock, not giving any clue as to the identity of her chosen. Donni, like all Companions, was a glowing, livid, white and had blue eyes with silver hooves. Unlike the other Companions in the Kingdom, she eschewed the tradition of growing out a long flowing mane and tail. Hers were chopped short and braided with silver and blue ribbons. She also carried a pillion pad on her saddle, not standard tack. They thought she would take two people, but who had ever heard of a Companion bearing anyone but their chosen, unless it was an emergency, or choosing more than one person. 

            Surprises came again for the population of the town when they saw that there had been an addition to the ships compliment. They could see two individuals on the bow deck, faces to the wind looking for something. Then, satisfied, they went back below. 

            The ship docked and down the gangplank walked two women the townsfolk didn't know. A path to the Companion cleared as they walked. The one wore leather armor with steel plates, and the other a simple brown tunic and breeches. Both walked up, petted the Companion on the neck, and were nuzzled in return. The Captain, no less curious than the others, watched from the boat. 

        " Our belongings, Captain Brandon"

            The lads on the boat brought out the bamboo basket that the two ladies had stored on the ship. It was, the Captain surmised, only weapons and clothing. They fastened the basket to the snaffles on the saddle and Donni lowered herself down on her knees for the two to mount. A small argument ensued over who was to go in the saddle and who on the pad, solved by the expedient of Donni grabbing Hoshi with her teeth and 'encouraging' her on. They climbed aboard and Donni rose and pivoted to leave. Hoshi grabbed the reins and pulled down, doing little but garnering Donni's attention for the bridle was nothing more than an elaborate hackamore. She stopped, pivoted again, and Hoshi reached into her pouch. 

            "Domo Arigato" and she tossed a handful of gold coins into the crowd.  

            _: That was nice:_

_: It was what should be done:_

_: It was still nice:_

_: How far do we have to go:_

_: At a regular horse's pace, nearly a fortnight.  At a Companion's speed about eight days:_

_: You're that fast?:_

_: Yes:_

"Suki"

"Hai, sensei"

"We will be an eight day's travel."

"How do you know?"

"The shining one here has told me"

"She speaks?"

"Yes, she speaks in the mind."

"What does she say of the new shogun we serve?"

_: You've both got a lot to learn:_

_: Suki can't hear you ?:_

_: No, only you Chosen:_

"She says we have much to learn"

Waystation

_: We will then be some kind of super samurai:_

_: Not quite, there is less fighting and more holding the country together:_

_: What about me? I'm not about holding things together:_

_: Point made, you'll likely end up as the Lord Marshal's Herald:_

_: The who? :_

_: The Lord Marshal is in charge of the Army, The Lord Marshal's Herald is in charge of the Heralds who fight with the Army and combative gift training. :_

_:  Hmm:_

" Sensei"

" Hai " 

" How much longer until we get there? "

_: Three days:_

" Three days"

_: You know it would be much easier if you just talked to both of us:_

_: It's not something done:_

_:_ _So? :_

_: So it's not traditional. :_

_: This concerns you. :_

_: To a certain extent:_

_: Can you speak to her? :_

_: Of course:_

_: Then do it:_

The link radiated disapproval. Hoshi ignored it. Donni was the only individual who could understand what she and Suki had to say; the others didn't know the language. It only made sense. 

_: Fine then have it your way:_

_: I will:_

 Night began to fall. There was a warm breeze, though; it was slightly warmer here than it was in Nagano. Donni turned off the path and headed down a little trail. The first time she did this Hoshi pulled a small fit, until she realized that they were only heading to a Waystation for the night. The stations, in and of themselves, Hoshi thought were brilliant.  Little places that Heralds could stay the night, with food, water, and shelter for them and their Companions. Positively charming.  

Hoshi dismounted, after five days in the saddle she was getting slightly more used to riding. Suki was much better at accustoming herself to the rigors of travel. As far as Hoshi was concerned feet were made for walking not hanging down near saddle stirrups. Suki, however, loved the travel and Hoshi was not going to ruin her fun for anything.

_: All Heralds use Companion transport, we're the fastest in the Kingdom:_

_: You're reading my mind again. :_

_: You're almost shouting:_

Hoshi didn't dignify that with a response.  She was also getting very used to grooming and caring for the tack, something that she hadn't known how to do before. They filled the bed box with fresh hay from the manger and heated up the food they'd made the morning before.  Sleep had come more easily in the past few days than ever before. The visions seemed to have stopped, which was blessing enough that Hoshi didn't mind the dirt and soreness of travel. 

DEAMONS

Darkness. There was a bright light, and a gathering. Tables lined up in a row. It was a feast. A joyful feast.

 _Damn, _thought Hoshi, _not again._

A man, a young man, rose from his seat. He was dressed all in white with a regal crown on his head. 

_A King then, or a noble._

 The orientation spun, went upside down and then steadied from a position slightly behind the man looking upwards. 

_Assassins. I should know. There are three. One is on the rafter; the second is on the banner buckle and the third is in the crowd, there near the coat of arms. _

The man made a speech; he began with welcoming the people to the celebration. Hoshi ignored the words, concentrating instead on the movement of the assassins. She memorized their movements, actions, and profile. 

_Why do they do nothing? Can they not see how that one is looking up to signal the bowman? Or how the other is preparing the window for the getaway? What idiot is in charge here?_

 "…  and a happy Midsummer to all! "

Applause rang from the gathered. The bowman shot. Red blossomed on the chest of the King. Another beside him jumped to her feet. They bore the mark of kinship. She covered her brother, or was it cousin, with her own body. Red blossomed on her as well. Hoshi tried to run her mind from the scene but the trauma plunged inexorably forward. The arrows had been poisoned neither was alive. There would be chaos in succession. The nation would be torn. Enemies surrounded on all sides. They would attack. The Kingdom would fall. Valdemar would die. 

Hoshi woke with a fright. Suki, beside her, jumped in startlement. 

"Sensei?"  
            " It will come to pass, this I foresee" 

 "Again?"

"Hai"

There was a clattering, from the stable. Donni was awake. 

_: That was the King. Midsummer is tomorrow night. We don't have much time:_

" I heard that!!"

" Well finally. What do you mean we have time? We're three days out of the capital."

_: You've never seen a Companion in a hurry. We can make it:_

"You're out of your horsy mind!"

_: Get dressed. In armor.  Quickly. Suki, get me ready to travel:_

The three boiled over in activity in sooner time than anyone thought possible.  If Hoshi thought they'd been traveling quickly before, this was something entirely different. The sheer, intoxicating speed of Donni's travel was unlike anything she'd ever experienced.  Suki was behind her, gasping and grabbing on to Hoshi's armor to maintain balance.  The Companion's ground eating speed and endurance was phenomenal; the only question was if Hoshi could stay on her back.  Hoshi abandoned any pretext of trying to be graceful and hung to the pommel for dear life. The moon shone on the road as Donni and her Chosen raced to save the King.

Hardin

Hardin Damodred, King of Valdemar, was completely relaxed.  He'd just completed the advanced equestrian course with his Companion Oberlin and was soaking in hot water with a copy of his favorite thriller.  Midsummer festival was coming up, the time of happiness and gift giving.  He had to give a speech at the official banquet, but other than that life was very good. 

" Hey Hard, where's the tax file on the Belfair province?"

" What are you doing here?  Get!"

"Come on, I'm your sister.  It isn't anything I haven't seen before.  Where did you put it?"

"Why do you care?  You're King's Own not the taxman."

" I need to find out how much disaster relief the villages that got torched are entitled to."

"It's Midsummer for Haven's sake.  Put a cork in it and chill. The taxes will still be there tomorrow Sophi."

"Some monarch you are, lazing about in the bathtub while thing go undone"

"Nothing is going undone.  I resent that.  The tax files are in the records room, just like everything else."

" Fine.  I'll see to it then."

"Sophi you need to relax before you go into a nervous breakdown.  You've been working nonstop for weeks on this village thing.  It's not your job; you should leave this in the Governor's hand, that's his job.  I need you to be on Council, not locked up in the records room."

  " You don't care that three villages got torched and we don't know why?" 

That got a reaction out of him. 

" I care" he snarled, " Gods bless I'm the bloody King it's my job to make sure those people are safe and I've failed miserably, but you are working yourself to a thread.  Stop it.  You're my sister I've got to look out for you."

" I can take care of myself, your royal majesty, thank you very much.  I just need to get this done.  I care - sue me."

She stormed out of the room.  Hardin sighed and scrubbed his face with water.  It had been a peaceful Midsummer.  Now Sophi was all out of joint and wasn't likely to help him write his speech for the night.  Life was not fair. 

He sighed. Time to get ready. Speech writing was the most onerous duty he could possibly think of, why the heck hadn't Baron Valdemar thought to get rid of that when he escaped the Eastern Empire? The Formal whites weren't all that bad. He got dressed and memorized the generic speech he usually prepared for any state occasion, substituting the appropriate phrases for the Midsummer festival. 

He went to his sister's rooms and surprisingly she was dressed and ready to go. They were escorted down to the court dining hall by the Privy Council, who tradition demanded also attend. They sat, ate, smiled, and smiled some more. Gods, why did he think that being a King would be exciting? Nothing ever happened at state banquets but stupid people vying for a little more power and position in the cutthroat pools of politics. Speech time.

" People of Valdemar! My people! We have…" Yadda, yadda, yadda.  Gods I hate speeches.

Interruptions 

 The speech was winding down. Gods this was boring. All there was to do was sit and smile until both face and backside were stiff, then sit and smile some more. Sophia would much rather be back in her rooms doing something productive. Ah well, she sighed internally, thus is the life of the King's sister.

" THUD"

"THUD" 

The people in the room stopped and stared at the iron oak doors that marked the ceremonial entrance to the main hall. They weren't opened except for the coronation and fealty ceremonies. The massive doors, harder than any wood wouldn't break, but the latch was of regular pine, after an unfortunate incident several hundred years ago when the latch had stuck and the entire court had to be lifted out the top of the great hall. The massive latch snapped. 

A Companion, double mounted, sped into the great hall. Pivoted to a stop in front of the high table and a black clad figure leaped off and knocked over Hardin, the other pulled a bow out and aimed for the rafters.  Arrows flew. 

Sophia wanted to help, she really did, but there was no way she was going to get in that line of fire.  She ducked under the table. Her eyes met the eyes of her brother and his rescuer hidden under the ancient stone table.  The rescuer was covered head to toe in black armor, only the eyes, the same black, were exposed. 

There was a thunk and a cry. The first rescuer had fallen on the table. The other's eyes went wide and rolled out from under the table.  Sophia watched as the armored one let loose a war cry that made her blood curdle. She leaped from the floor to the table to the banner bearing the coat of arms that sat directly behind the throne.  She climbed up the banner like a squirrel. 

Sophia rolled out from under the table, ducking from the crossbow quarrels, and dragged the first rescuer from the tabletop to the relative safety under the table.  She, surprising Sophia the armor made it hard to tell, was not in good shape. The crossbow bolt was stuck in a gap in the light armor.  It wasn't too life threatening but there was something else wrong. There were green stripes of poison that lanced up from the wound. 

A gasp from the crowd pulled Sophia's attention away from her wounded friend. The other armored one had made her way to the rafters and was now trying to dislodge the assassin. It didn't take too long. She had help. The stunned guardsmen had finally gotten their wits together and started firing on the bowman. It was only a matter of time.

Time was up. The assassin lost his balance and plummeted down to the stone floor. The other rescuer crawled back down with speed Sophia had never seen. She reached the floor and pulled two long, distinctive weapons from sheathes on her back and blocked all access to the high table. Not good. 

Several green clad healers rushed up and tried to push through. They were enthusiastically encouraged to back off.  

"Let them through, they're healers you idiot!!!" Not the smarted thing you've done Sophi, go ahead and insult the person with a sharp weapon. 

"He-lars?"  She questioned.

"YES!" Sophi shouted. Gods bless she doesn't understand Valdemaran.

She stopped, still holding the healers at sword? -point.  Sophia recognized the expression of a beginning mindspeaker "listening" to her Companion.  She let the healers through.  Sophia grabbed the first healer she could and slammed into a healing meld. As a Herald she couldn't heal, per se, but she could and did assist by channeling energy to the healer, effectively doubling the Healer's capacity to heal. 

Cedric

He felt the energy flood into him as the Kings Own channeled. He turned his Othersight to his patient and was surprised at the level of poison that infected her system. He started to pour the healing energy into her wound. The crossbow bolt popped out as the flesh underneath knitted, but that was only the easy half of the battle.  The other Healers also linked with him, flooding the infected area. He felt one, two, even three Healers link in with him, even the King, who couldn't heal but poured energy into the meld anyway. 

It was touchy for a while, the poison had been given a substantial head start, but the full power of four teaching strength Healers and two full Heralds and their Companions held the day.  He sighed, exhausted, as he pulled out of the Meld.  She would survive to see another day, that was all he cared about. He turned to her friend, the one who'd held him at bay with her pointy little daggers, and opened up his Othersight.  

"Lady Herald, do you know who this is?"

"No, I don't.  Whoever she is she's just saved the King's life and entitled to full treatment."

" She'd get it in any case, but not that one, Herald, the other one."

" She's been Chosen, that's all we need to know right now.  She's confused and has some serious trouble understanding Valdemaran."

"That's not all Herald, she's as blind as a bat."

"BLIND?"

"Myopic, severely nearsighted, it's a miracle she can navigate without assistance, let alone fight, climb, and ride."

"She can't see?"

"Not well at all.  Anything within a five meter radius is just a blur, but beyond that she's OK.  I highly doubt she can either read or write, if I hadn't seen it I'd also think she couldn't use those footlong sharp things."

" You're kidding.  OK, you're not.  Can you cure it?"

"No, traits like this are inborn.  We can get her some glasses though, that ought to help"

"Good, can you convince her to put down the weapons and listen to us?"

"I'm a Healer, Lady Herald, not a diplomat."

 The guard had very efficiently emptied the Great Hall.  The only people left were the Healers, the Heralds, the Companions, and the two rescuers.  He stood up and promptly sat right back down as the blood rushed from his head at the sudden movement.  The healing meld had taken more out of him than he thought.  He watched as the Kings Own tried to open up some lines of communication with her rescuer. 

"Sophia" She gestured to herself, and then invited her to do the same. 

"Hoshi"

"Thank you"

Hoshi turned to her Companion, who apparently translated in her head. 

"How is Suki?"

"She'll live."

"Good."

"They're going to take her to the House of Healing to recover."

"I go"

"Ok, if you want, are you hungry, thirsty?  Do you want a bath or a change of clothes?"

"No, I go with Suki"

"Fine, this man here is called…"

"Cedric" 

"He's called Cedric.  He saved Suki's life.  He'll be taking care of her while she's sick.  You can go with him to the House of Healing and keep an eye on Suki."

 There was another pause as she received the internal translation.

"OK"

He stood up, less shaky this time, and offered his hand to Hoshi.  She didn't look at him or it, he theorized she couldn't even see the gesture, but gamely put her own hand in the right place and shook.  'Incredible' he thought 'she can adapt the disability without even letting on that she has it.'

"You fix Suki?"

"Aye, that was I."

"Domo Arigato" she bowed.

"You're welcome"

He led Hoshi to the House of Healing.  With the armor on, he couldn't really get a good idea of her appearance, but she had to be incredibly strong for her size to wear that kind of plate without visibly tiring.  She was short, barely to his shoulder, with dark black eyes. Her Companion walked beside them.  Cedric was trying to think of a way to get the Companion into the House of Healing without knocking out a wall.  He didn't think either of the ladies would appreciate being separated from the only being who could understand their language.  

The stretcher bearing Suki went into the House of Healing, so did Hoshi, so did the Trauma Healers, and, after a moment's pause, so did the Companion.  She barely fit the double doors and had to tug a little to get her haunches through, the hallways had a low ceiling and she kept her head down. He told them to put her in the garden room; it was the closest to the exit and was the largest, intended for at least two people and their full team of Healers. 

The trauma team set to work as soon as they got Suki settled.  Cedric couldn't even help channel he was so beat.  Hoshi stood guard by the other bed, clearly intending to run anyone through if she thought they were compromising her friend's health and safety. Cedric tried to start some conversation, but she didn't seem interested and he ended up napping on one of the padded benches habitually scattered about the House of Healing, for Healers were apt to snatch moments of valuable sleep whenever and wherever they could.

The Trauma team left, he and Hoshi were alone in the room with an overly large horse and a very sick woman. 

"Sophia said you heal, not them"

He perked his head up, that was the first voluntary sentence he'd managed to get out of her.

"I'm not exactly a trauma Healer. I specialize in burns and things like that."

He waited while her Companion translated.

"Your name is Cedric" She had a nasal, slightly lispy accent.

"Yes"

"You work here."

"Yes, this is the main teaching, training, and treatment facility for all Healers in the Kingdom. Technically, I should be assigned to a healing temple out on the border somewhere because I'm new to my greens, but the burn specialty is so rare they want to keep me here"

She took a second to work through the information. 

" Will you stay here?"

"If you want"

"Stay"

"Alright"

Liam

Liam was the Weaponsmaster of the Collegium.  He was responsible for training the Bardic, Healer, and Herald collegians. He was also personally responsible for the Kings' safety and the security of the persons on the palace grounds. As such he was beside himself for the gross lack of awareness he'd had in allowing the assassination attempt to take place, let alone be almost successful and completely uncontested. Sophia had come to him an hour ago; he'd braced himself for the tirade, for her temper was stuff of legend among Heralds and for once he completely deserved it, but she said nothing. Instead, she told him about the two women who'd performed the rescue. They were from Nagano, they'd been armed with a variety of unrecognizable weaponry, they'd been somehow forewarned of the event, and, to top off the whole thing, one of them was half blind. He resolved to make off for the House of Healing first thing in the morning.

He got the room number from one of the trainees, clad in pea green as opposed to the full forest green, and opened the door. He found himself face to face with one of the unrecognizable weapons that was now pointed at his throat. 

"Stand down lass, I just be checking in on ye."

"It's alright, Hoshi."

Liam noticed the man, young to be in full greens, who'd obviously been sleeping there for the night. The point of the peculiar weapon wavered, and then lowered slowly. It was a dagger unlike anything he'd ever seen. The middle prong was the longest; it was not edged, but sharpened to a bodkin point. The two smaller prongs were a hand span apart and the same length long, they curled in, and then outwards; they were also pointed. The whole weapon was reminiscent of a two-prong sword breaker, but this was only about the length of her forearm and had three prongs.

"Who are you?"

" Me name be Liam and I be Weaponsmaster of this here palace." She frowned and glanced to the Companion that was in her room, Liam didn't want to know how they'd got her in there.

"What you need?"

"I'll be wanting to talk to ye at ye're nearest convenience"     

"Talk"

"Just want to know one thing, lass" has watched for her reaction carefully " How in the name o' nine did ye know when to be there and where they were?"

With the armor on he couldn't tell if she was all tensed up or not, but the helm was off and he could see the ghost of a smile flit across her face. 

"I see things before happen. That why I have fast reflexes."

"Foresight, ach … I shoulda known. Well the whole Kingdom be in debt to ye, lass. We're glad ye're come here." There was no immediate response. " Before long I'll be wanting to check out ye're skills with those pointy things ye've packed, and mebbe we'll be come to agreement about a teaching position for that friend of yours."

"Suki"

"Beg ye're pardon?"

"Her name is Suki"

"Ok then, Suki." 

"You no meet many samurai have you?"

"Not really"

"Good"

Cymatia

Mattie was in awe. She was a Heraldic trainee, had been for several years, almost ready for her whites in fact. She'd seen some of the best warriors in the kingdom, trained with them, even bested a few on occasion. Never in her entire experience had she ever seen such a debacle. The Weaponsmaster of the collegium, by definition the single best, most versatile fighter in the kingdom, was being defeated. Not just defeated, humiliated. 

The newest addition to the Heraldic trainees, Hoshi, had been in Haven for a few weeks.  She and her friend had rescued the King from an assassination attempt and promptly spent the next week in the House of Healing. They'd finally got around to testing them out in the different subject disciplines. Reading and writing were a must, they had little understanding of Valdemaran and Hoshi had to be taught to read, not just how to read Valdemaran, The weapons test was last, to give Suki enough time to heal before she had to test. Liam had been confident that the ladies abilities were, as was usually the case with trainees, highly overrated. That had promptly backfired.

She'd given up long ago any pretense of actually using her weapons in an offensive manner, she was using her bare hands to evade and counter the massive broadsword that Liam wielded. It was, for the weaponsmaster, a farce. There was a mandatory time limit, and Mattie was timing it. As was custom,, no one but the tested, the teacher, and the timer were there to avert embarrassment. 

"Time"

Liam sagged to a halt, dropping to the sanded wood floor gasping and dripping sweat. Hoshi could have been taking a brisk stroll in the field. Suki rose from her cross-legged stance on the floor, ready to have her half of the fun. 

"Enough, if she be half as good as ye there's nothing I could possibly need to teach ye both."

"I teach Suki from my training. She is good."

"Then that be more than endorsement enough for me."

Suki said something in their language, Hoshi responded. Suki bowed, crossed over to the middle of the floor, and took her place opposite her teacher. Mattie walked over to help Liam remove his practice armor. 

"They're good."

"Aye Mattie, they be a damn sight better than good. It's bloody inhuman to move that fast."

"Are you just saying that because Hoshi beat you ?" Mattie teased.

"Mebbe, but I've never seen reflexes that fast. How the bloody hell did they train her to do that? She couldn't even flaming see when they had her."

"It's her Gift. The Dean says he's never seen foresight that powerful. She can see even the little things. Last night she could tell that my stack of dishes was about to fall over and fixed it before it did, she's just incredible."

" But the timing! It's just impossible!"

"Not really"

They both turned, chagrined to be caught gossiping. 

"If you spent every waking moment since you walk training to fight, it is possible. They know that I know the strike is coming. They spend years timing it so I could counter and strike back. I did nothing else. I doubt it is possible to defeat me one to one."

Mattie was shocked.  No wonder.  She'd slowly been getting to know Hoshi over the past few weeks.  The trainee was quiet, intelligent, and oddly formal, though that could be explained.  She also had a ravenous thirst for knowledge and actually enjoyed even the dullest subjects.  That her own people had left her ignorant of anything but what would make her a good fighter was criminal. She was small too, it really was incredible that she could do what she did, though in retrospect, being small, fast and agile would be a definite asset for an assassin. Suki was different. She was happy, bubbling and almost oblivious to her ability, which in its' own way was as polished as Hoshi's but very different. She bore a halberd, gaily lacquered with fantastic animals, that was taller than she. She twirled it with wild abandon and bouncy footwork. Fighting together, they were a sight to behold. It proved the old saying that two heads are better than one.  

       
   

    

 

_  
  
  
_


	2. Haven

Disclaimer: I don't own it.  I wish I did.  Don't sue.  Don't get offended.

Thanks: MOM, I love you.  Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that, but what the heck and Miss Sharp: for putting up with me.  God Bless.

Janna 

The urban legend of Hoshi and the assassination attempt had grown.  Herald Janna was in charge of training the Heralds to ride their Companions- in any circumstance and under complete control.  She had her first evaluation of Hoshi and her friend, Suki, the morning after their first weapons lesson.  Mattie, one of Janna's prized students, was going to bring them from the salle.  She was looking foreword to this; both had grown on the instructor since they'd come aboard.  Hoshi was quiet, soft-spoken, and generally good-humored about life.  Suki, on the other hand, was a total riot.  She wasn't to terribly bright but made up for the lack of ability with an abundance of enthusiasm. 

What distressed Janna slightly was the very formal relationship that both women maintained towards each other.  It was always bowing, commands, and titles.  Not that either seemed to take the master-servant thing too far; Hoshi never asked for anything, if she could help it, and whatever she had was split unhesitatingly.  Suki seemed more than happy to serve Hoshi unconditionally and obey anything she might even think about asking.  When Hoshi had insisted that Suki attend as many classes as she did, it kind of blew the Heraldic community away because they had dismissed it as an arrogant aristocrat, not a thoughtful friend. 

The ladies came across the hilltop to the Companions stables and the corral filled with soft, slightly damp dirt that served as a breakfall for the unfortunate soul that lost his balance. 

"Heyla, how are things going?"

"Fine Herald, I've got two new trainee's for you, fresh from the ale."

"You don't look too worse for wear, I hope Master Liam wasn't too hard on you."

"Frankly ma'am I think you need to worry less about them and more about Liam"

Janna was surprised, but the barely concealed grin on Mattie's face spoke volumes about how the weapons training went.  So, the newest recruits had proved a handful for him.  Janna wasn't stupid; she was from Evendim and had heard the tales of ninja and samurai.  She hadn't thought that they were too terribly true, but apparently they were. Interesting.

"Well then, this should be a breeze if you've managed to exhaust Liam."

Donni trotted out of the stable, saddled, pivoted and cheerfully called.

_: Let's get this show on the road:_

             "Ok, looks like our horse is ready, which one of you wants to go first?"

They looked at Donni, looked at Janna, and pointed at each other simultaneously. 

She laughed, "Alright, I guess I'll pick. Hoshi, she's your Companion-saddle up"

Hoshi walked over, and Janna almost cracked a gut laughing. Companions were, first and foremost, battle steeds. They were some of the largest 'horses' in the kingdom standing nearly 18 hands high. Hoshi was not a tall individual; she stood barely 15 hands high. The expression on her face was absolutely priceless as she came eye to girth with the monstrosity that was her ride. 

She carefully removed her glasses, wrapped them in silk, and tucked them in the padded steel case. She took a deep breath and climbed aboard.      

Cedric 

Cedric was in the solarium, mixing together a potion for a burn victim that had been brought in a few days ago. Suddenly the door burst open. Suki ran in the door almost incoherent and grabbed his sleeve. 

"Hoshi is hurt!! Needs you to come! Hurry!"

 "Hoshi! Where? Hold on, let me put this down." 

" Fields, in the dirt. She fell. Hurry!"

Cedric put down his mixture and hitched up his greens. He grabbed an emergency kit from the doorway and followed Suki. She was surprisingly fast. He even had to stretch his legs to keep up, although he was taller and had a longer stride. 

He made it to the clearing and saw Hoshi laid out flat on the corral dirt with Herald Instructor Janna leaning over her. 

"Cedric! Good! Get over here."

"Gods, what happened?"

"She fell off Donni. I guess she hit the ground wrong. It knocked her cold, I haven't been able to get her back up."

 "What was she doing?"

"Nothing special, we were just trying to get her seated right and she slipped off the saddle. She's so short that the fall was pretty bad."

 "I'll say. She's got a pretty severe concussion. That's going to be a nasty headache when she wakes up."

"You'd think she could ride a horse with all the training she's received in balance and coordination."

"Where are her glasses?"

"In the case, I think she didn't want them to break."

"Gods."

Cedric poured the healing energy into her head; he Felt the bruised tissue knit slowly back together. He also set up a small painblock to counter some of the inevitable headache when she came back to consciousness.

Hoshi moaned, then opened her eyes and tried to sit up. 

"Easy there, you took a nasty fall. Just lay back."

"What happened?"

"You fell off Donni."

She swore profusely in her own language.

"Yes I would agree. Well, it seems as though however good you are with those funny looking knives you've still got a lot to learn about riding"

"Suki?"

"Hai?"

"Help"

Suki helped her friend to stand up. She slowly let go and Cedric had to catch Hoshi before she tipped back over onto the dirt.  

"Let's just concentrate on staying awake, OK? C'mon we can go sit over there and watch."

She said something he recognized, though it wasn't too terribly complimentary.

"That's it. Keep it up and you'll be good as gravy in no time."  

Sophia

Sophi just got out of a meeting of the Heraldic circle. They were debating the merits of the newest member of the Heraldic community. The general consensus was that Hoshi was a very different kind of Herald. 

The general education of a Herald was based on a broad understanding of Valdemaran history, politics, law and administration. The military aspect of the Heraldic education was not neglected, but neither was it unduly emphasized. Hoshi was another matter entirely. She had a comprehensive understanding of all kinds of military tactics, personal combat, and the varied use of different kinds of weapons and soldiers. She had no knowledge of history, as it related to anything but tactics, no knowledge of law, administration, or politics. She could, however, kill anything on two feet, climb any building, shoot, fight, survive and plan a military campaign. 

The circle was in a bit of a quandary.

It was universally decided that she should take over the post of Lord Marshal's Herald. Murdock, the current Lord Marshal's Herald, was more than willing to step down and take the generous retirement that few Heralds lived to receive. The sticking point was her relative inexperience in Valedmaran military and court politics. It was more than simply unfortunate. With the situation on the Karsite border always sticky and Rethwellen, not quite an ally but not quite an enemy, things really required more political maneuverings than troops. 

Or at least that's what they hoped. Karse had been acting very strange these past few months, moving troops and supplies all about the place, as if preparing for a campaign, but starting halfway into the summer, too late into the fighting season to do much good. The snow would block up the Karsite hill roads west of Sweetsprings, and make any kind of mass travel very difficult if not impossible. It seemed that the new Lord Captain Commander of the army of the Son of the Sun was preparing for a massive assault in the beginning of the summer next year. That wasn't much time to get the mostly volunteer regular army prepared and to the Karsite border. 

Sophia sighed, life was not going to give them respite from the Karsites and they still had to figure out who was torching border cities on the Evendim coast. The situation needed attention. Maybe that was why Hoshi got Chosen. She understood the tactics of water pirates better than anyone they had and she could direct ground troops against Karse. She was so young though, or at least she looked it, and that was now Sophia's mission: to find out as much about her new colleague-in-arms as possible. She was an Empath it shouldn't be too difficult. Right?

Somehow she didn't think it would be that easy. Hoshi hadn't been anything but completely helpful, but Sophia got the impression that she wasn't going to be forthcoming about her personal information. She was here, but she wasn't too trusting. It was a shame really, Heralds should trust each other - they had to.

She stopped in front of the room that had been assigned to Hoshi and Suki. They had insisted on that and the Seneschal was perfectly willing to comply. She pulled on the white tunic, smoothed her hair, and knocked. 

"Hello!"

"Hi. Can I come in?"

"Sure, come in come in." 

Sophi walked in and stopped short. She wasn't the only visitor. Cedric, the Healer that she'd assigned to care for Suki out of sheer desperation for the first Healer she could reach, he was there also. So was Hoshi. She had a towel wrapped around a pack of ice and had it applied to her head. 

"Ouch! That looks painful. What happened?"

"I fell off Donni."


	3. Dinnertime

Disclaimer: I don't own it.  I wish I did.  Don't sue.  Don't get offended.

Thanks: MOM, I love you.  Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that, but what the heck and Miss Sharp: for putting up with me.  God Bless.

Cedric 

He'd accepted the ladies invitation to dinner after Hoshi had got her head knocked in by her own Companion.  They were fun.  He hadn't gone for this much hilarity in a meal since he'd last gone to the Compass Rose tavern and one of the Blues had 'demonstrated' his latest invention.  He still thought Jayson was banned from ever returning.  This was an entirely different level though, the look on Sophia's face when Hoshi told her that she'd fallen off her own Companion and knocked herself out was positively priceless. 

"You what?"

"I fell off."

"She's a Companion, I didn't think it was even possible.  It's not like a regular horse, she wants you to stay on her back."

"Really?"

"Well, that wasn't what I came here for, but anyway.  Congratulations, you're now the apprentice to the Lord Marshal's Herald."

"Yes"

Again, the expression was absolutely priceless.

"I know, I always know, I knew before I came, that's why I came."

"When were you planning to tell us about it?'

"If I'd told you, would it have happened?"

"I… don't… know.  That's a good point.  Do you do this all the time?"

"No, the big things come seldom.  Little things, they always been there.  That's how I learn to live."

"Incredible"

Hoshi shrugged, he could feel the movement against his shoulder, she was so slight in comparison to his awkward bulk, he just wanted to wrap her up in silk and keep her safe.  ' Fat chance' he thought to himself ' she's a Herald, or at least she will be, that's one step away from criminal insanity.  She's going to risk her neck on a regular basis and likely enjoy it too'

"Come.  Here.  Sit.  Eat."

"Thanks" She accepted the bowl of spicy slivered meat and vegetables, proffered by Suki.  "That's incredible.  I never heard of foresight acting like that."

"It does" 

Hoshi put her own food down, and turned into Cedric's shoulder.  Worried, he opened up his Othersight.  Reassuringly, his gift told him that there were no complications from the concussion.  He gently snuggled an arm around her and she slowly relaxed into him.  Sophia- first a Herald, second an Empath, and third, Kings Own- did not miss the gesture.  She raised a questioning eyebrow while Suki was chattering about and he caught an unmistakable signal that she wanted him to find her to chat later. 

Suki bounced about the room like a rubber ball, she was eating, cleaning, sorting, and chatting all at the same time and never missed a beat.  Her conversation was just as light and frivolous.  There was really little effort involved in making conversation, but it was entertaining nonetheless.  It was easy to see why Hoshi, the epitome of quiet dignity, liked having Suki around.  She was just a blast.  Surprisingly, Sophia hung around for quite a while.  He hadn't pegged the Kings Own for making frivolous conversation on meaningless topics with random servants. 

Hoshi had fallen asleep some time ago.  Suki never noticed, she and Sophia were exchanging recipes for whatever tasty morsel she had fixed for dinner that night. Cedric himself wouldn't have brought it up if he hadn't lost the sensation in his arm and had to start flexing his fingers to reacquire sensation.  

"Oh.  Hoshi is asleep!  You did no say.  Give.  I put her to bed."

"That's Ok I don't mind.  Alright, but I got her."

He slowly shifted, so that she was balanced on his lap, then slid both arms underneath and lifted off the sofa.  Suki ran about like a chicken with its head cut off trying to 'get everything ready'. Finally he got both women settled and he and Sophia left for the night.

"Well"

"Well what?"

"You did want to speak to me didn't you?"

"Well yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean now."

"Don't play games with me Herald.  Do you or don't you?"

"Getting a little defensive are we?  Oh very well, you are absolutely right.  We need to chat"

"Then…"

"Get on with it?"

"Yes."

"Alright.  Do you know how old your friend is?"

"More or less"

"How old?"

"Twenty, twenty one- what does it matter?"

"How long has she been doing what she does?"

"As far as I know, forever.  Why?"

"Because the Heraldic Circle won't qualify someone for whites if they're not at least eighteen, maybe more, - Hoshi could pass for thirty or twelve if she wanted to- and secondly because we need to know how much experience she had before she came here if we're going to judge if she's ready to ride circuit around the kingdom."

"Why the heck didn't you just ask her?"

"She was asleep, very comfortably I might add, and I didn't think Suki would quite appreciate personal questions of that particular nature directed towards her only link to family, friends or companionship within a couple hundred kilometers."

"I think you underestimate Suki"

"Perhaps, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.  Speaking of which: I hope you understand what it is your getting yourself into."

"What, because she's a foreigner and she's small, you think I'm going to suddenly take advantage of her?  I'll have you know…"

"That your felling towards her are completely genuine and you have no intention of hurting her in any way, shape, or fashion?  I know that.  I'm an empath remember, and a damn good one.  It's not her I'm worried about it's you."

"What?"

"She's a Herald, or at least she will be, very few Heralds form any type of personal attachment beyond a few night's company.  It's just too difficult.  The job is atrocious, if not horribly dangerous, then incredibly time consuming and extremely dull, if not both.  That's something not many non-Heralds, even many Heralds, understand.  I don't want to see either of you in any way incapacitated by each other.  That's part of my job, to keep all of my Heralds in their game and keep everyone else sane."

"Are you warning me off?"

"No, just making sure you're aware."

"Believe me Herald, I'm aware."

   
  



	4. The Plot Thickens

Disclaimer: I don't own Valdemar, Heralds, or any of Misty's most excellent work. This is for fun not profit, please God don't sue I don't have the cash. This is my take on several things, including Heralds, bushido, and Karse. What I know I learned in Karate, don't get offended if I'm twisting it to my own malicious, evil ends. 

Thanks: MOM I love you. Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that, live with it Miss Sharp: for putting up with me         

Suki 

They settled into a routine. Hoshi and Suki woke at the dawn bell. Hoshi went to the salle, helped by Suki, and started with the beginners. Liam had decided that it would be more beneficial if she started fresh with new people than try to re-teach advanced students. They made quite a pair - Hoshi with her Sai and Suki with her halberd. 

The mornings were devoted to classes; history administration, law and tactics for Hoshi and reading, writing, arithmetic, and orienteering for Suki. The afternoons Suki went to the salle again to teach, while Hoshi went to the Council and Circle meetings with the Lord Marshal and Herald Murdock. It was a pretty good life.

The only area she was woefully deficient, much to Hoshi's chagrin, was riding. After the disastrous incident with Donni and her test, Hoshi was completely inept where equestrianism was concerned. There was speculation, particularly among those who studied Gifts and their applications, that her foresight was actually the problem. She was so used to knowing what would happen, just before it happened, that when she hit something where it wouldn't work, like a Companion, she was completely clueless.

Suki could ride, very well as a matter of fact, and enjoyed it tremendously. Donni was more than cooperative in allowing her to ride the Companion although strictly speaking Companions didn't usually bear anyone but their Chosen. 

"Suki !"

" Hai"

"Where are the notes from last council meeting?"

" In the desk, where they always are."'

"No they're not"

"Yes they are"

"No they're not"

 "Yes" she pulled them out of the desk "they are" 

 "Oh"

"Are you alright, sensei?"

"Fine"

"Really? You seem a little… distracted "

"Shut up Suki, just shut up"

"Talk" Suki sat on the desk, on top of the papers.

"It's this stupid Evendim thing" Hoshi sighed and pushed away from the desk. 

"What about it?"

"You know the villages are being torched, right?"

"Hai"

"We can't figure out by whom or why."

"Can't you just see when it will happen?"

"No"

"No?"

"Not a thing."

"Something blocks you?"

"I don't know what it is, there's no kind of mind-magic that can block Foresight. Nothing can block it as far as the Dean and the Circle are concerned. I just can't see."

"That's… troubling"

"Yes, "she agreed wearily "That's very troubling"

Murdock

Herald Murdock, Lord Marshal's Herald and senior speaker for the Heraldic Circle, was in a bit of a bind. There was something funny going on just beyond Sweetsprings, on the Karsite border, and no one could figure out what it was.

 The Farseers couldn't see past Sweetsprings, the Mindspeakers couldn't speak past Sweetsprings, the Fetchers couldn't fetch past Sweetsprings, and, above all, Hoshi couldn't see into the future of Sweetsprings. Nothing at all was getting through. There was something going on just past the border and the only way they could get information was the old fashioned way: through spies. That was the easy part. The Holderkin, who lived just past the border into Karse, were not happy at all with their overlords. They would turncoat quickly and supply information readily enough. Unfortunately, the Karsites knew this, and tried to keep as much as possible from the Holderkin as they could.  All Murdock could get out of them was that there were a large number of Karsite troops sitting there doing nothing. Hopefully, they were doing nothing.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the same darned-blast thing that blocked Hoshi from Sweetsprings was torching cities on the Evindim lakeshore for no apparent reason. The two were obviously related, because of the same lack of information available to the Heraldic gifts. 

It was the first time in Murdock's experience that a lack of information was information, in and of itself.  He wasn't too thrilled with the experience.

 The fastest they could get troops to the Karsite border sectors was three weeks, two if they pushed the beasts to foundering. There was a massive amount of manpower involved, but he was reluctant to remove troops from one border, the Evendim lakeshore, to bolster the other border, Karsite sectors one and two, especially if both were being attacked simultaneously. It was an old-fashioned pickle, damned if he did, damned if he didn't. If only he knew when and where everything would hit the fan, he could plan for it. He might as well wish the Karsite swords into plowshares while he was at it.

Albright 

Albright Sol Arum was Lord Captain Commander of the Army of the Son of the Sun. He did not earn this exalted position by falling prey to the twin prongs of politics or stupidity. He had very little patience with fools, idiots, or anyone who'd get in his way. Including priests especially priests, perhaps, in fact, exclusively priests. The higher rank they held, the more power they wielded and the less cooperative they became. However, to question the orders of any red robe mage or higher, was to ask for excommunication and execution in Sun City with the fires. 

He was, for the moment, stuck with three of the highest rank black robe priests in Karse. They were doing him the 'favor' of holding off the gifts of the demon riders so he could settle his troops, and their plans, without interruption. For this ' gift' he was forced to lug about three full shrines to Vikandis Sunlord, all solid gold and silver with encrusted jewels, provide the every sadistic whim of the Black robes and their entourage, and make almost hourly reports on the stages of progress to His Holiness the Son of the Sun. It was enough to make any military man a pacifist. 

The only upside was the demon riders complete lack of knowledge of the entire operation. The idiot Holderkin were kept incomplete ignorance, encouraged by the occasional burning, and totally unreliable information. A Black robe was also shielding the sea pirates he'd hired, they wouldn't be thwarted or exposed for the ruse they were. The Valdemarans wouldn't pull troops off a border they knew was being attacked to a border where they thought they might be attacked. There was no logic in it, nor was there any logic in attacking in the winter. The roads would be blocked, the weather would be horrible, and the supplies would be unavailable. Or so they thought. 

He had everything planned down to the smallest detail. The Black robes would drop the shield on the pirates at the last possible minute and the pirates would attack. Faced with a war on two fronts the idiot demon riders would try to cover all of the affected areas, thus spreading themselves too thin. They'd realize the attack on the lake was a hoax just as he marched in with ten thousand of Karse's finest shock troopers. With any luck he could push as far as the capital within two months, perhaps less, and by that time it would be the prime of the fighting season to siege the demon riders city. 

It was brilliant, daring, unexpected and completely safe. The only possible problem was the dropping of the shield. Karse would still be covered, but the pirates wouldn't have the protection from the demon riders. There would be a week of lag time as the pirates attacked, but the Karsites waited. By the time the Karsite shield dropped, there was no possible way the demon riders could get the army to both places. Split, the army would take at least two weeks to get to the Karsite border. By that time he'd be a week's march into Valdemar and on the move. 

It was a perfect plan. Even with the flaming Black robes to get in his way.          

Hardin

Hardin was not an easily excited individual. Nor was he easily surprised. As a matter of fact, he was considered to be the mildest, most even-tempered member of his family. As King, it was an asset. However, when he walked into his private bedroom and found a demonic black clad figure with several deadly type weapons, even he became incensed. He screamed, jumped a meter into the air, and ran for the nearest door. Which was blocked by another black figure. The first walked up to him and pointed a knife at his throat. 

"You're dead." 

It was Hoshi. He almost fainted in relief. The other figure pulled off the black hood to reveal Suki, who plopped gracefully on the bed and began trimming her nails with the razor sharp dagger. 

"What in the hell do you think you're doing? You scared me half to death."

"How was I able to get in here?" 

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Your security is pathetic. I could have killed you, stolen all of the contents of your desk, and gotten away without anyone ever sounding the alarm."

"And that gives you the right to be in here and scare the bloody crap out of me?"

"Until I can't get in here, yes."

"Fine, take care of security. Just warn me next time, will you?"

"No. You need to learn how to deal with an assassin without screaming like a girl and running into the arms of your killers."

"And just who the hell are you to be ordering me around?"

"I'm the Lord Marshal's Herald. Or at least I will be. It's my job to make sure you stay alive. I won't shirk my duty, even if you don't like it. Be prepared."

And prepared he became. Hoshi was serious. Every person, right down to the servants, was logged in and out of the palace grounds. The ornamental ironworks were removed and replace by smooth stonework's, they were less easy for an assassin to climb. Patrols were increased, the length and area that each guardsmen patrolled changed also. 

She jumped him on a semi-regular basis. Sometimes with a friend, a guardsmen, or another Herald. He learned, oh you bet he learned. Quickly too. 


	5. Visions of sugarplums

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did. Don't sue. Don't get offended.

Thanks: MOM- I love you Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that-chill   Miss Sharp: for putting up with me.

Sophia

There weren't many times that Sophia used her Heraldic privileges. It just wasn't in her nature to take advantage of the responsibilities that were placed on her shoulders. There were some times, however when she just let it rip. This was one of them.

"I don't care what you want Lord Granter, she will be attending this council sessions, all of the future council sessions, and any other council sessions that I deem appropriate."

"You can't do that it."

"Yes my lord, I can."

"That's not right"

"It's my prerogative"

He stomped away, furious. Sophi sighed; she knew it was authoritarian and dictatorial.  Some things just needed to be. Hoshi's gift would be invaluable in the council chamber. The Councilors just needed to learn how to accept that. Any other point was moot.

Sophia started to walk, aimlessly as she usually did. Her gift seemed to work better if she wasn't concentrating on using it. The occasional long, aimless ramble around the palace grounds often led to more productive situations than any scheduled counseling session she'd ever done. People sometimes just needed an ear to listen more than a mouth to respond. 

"Hoshi?"

"Hai"

"How goes it?"

"How goes what?"

"It's just an expression. How are you doing?'

"Good" she replied shortly. Prolonged conversation was like pulling teeth.

"I'm glad to hear it."

"You come here often" It wasn't a question, more like a statement of fact.

"Yes, I do"

"Why?"

"Sometimes my gift works better when I'm walking."

"They do that?"

"Sometimes" Hoshi grunted and let it slide. There was something very different about Hoshi. Not just her being from out-Kingdom, but like she was always thinking somewhere else.

"I talked Lord Granter into letting you sit in on the Council meetings." Sort of.

"Why?"

"I thought your gift might be helpful"

"It will be"

"Is this another of those ' if I don't say anything, it will happen' type things"

"Yes"

"How do you do that?"

She gave a laconic shrug "It does it, not me"

"Where are you supposed to be now?" It was the middle of the afternoon, not a time she usually would have been on break.

"Riding"

Sophia couldn't help a smile "What does Donni have to say about that?"

Hoshi shrugged again "Nothing"

"She lets you skip class"

"Yes"

Suddenly Hoshi's eyes slid blank. Even behind the glasses Sophia could see that she wasn't 'seeing' anything. The stick that Hoshi had aimlessly been poking into the ground started to move with purpose. She started etching a map into the ground; it was Valdemar - Karsite sectors one and two. Sophia knew that map anywhere. She had stared at it for years, trying to figure out how to protect the border from raids.

Hoshi kept drawing in the dirt, symbols Sophia had seen from the Lord Marshal. Legions of troops, battalions of cavalry, even a few priest-magicians scattered around for effect. They started to move, past Sweetsprings into the border post roads and beyond, into the capital. The Evendim border was marked with a few, sporadic attacks nothing like the massive assault that formed along the Karsite sectors. 

Hoshi snapped out of whatever trancelike state she'd been in.

"What will be, will be. 

                    As I will so I foresee"****

"I'm going to go get Hardin"

Cymatia

Mattie had foal watch. She actually enjoyed it; she was from the Evendim area and never really had much of a chance to play with animals as a kid. There had been a big commotion that afternoon, near the corral. The entire council, right down to Lord Granter and his fancy brocaded slippers, were circled around in the dirt looking at something. The area had been blocked off, no one was allowed near it and there were guards there to keep people away. 

It wasn't anything she had to worry about, though. No old graybeard playing in the dirt could ruin her foal watch. There weren't any mares really expected to drop tonight, Mattie could just sit and read and be comfortable and content with life in the Heraldic Circle. 

"Hoshi! What are you doing here?"

"Karse will attack in a weeks time, I need to get to warn the border"

"Who? What? Karse? Now what do you mean? Wait, damn it, I'm not done here. What the hell are you doing?"

"I must go warn them"

"Alone! What in the hell are you thinking? Go tell the Lord Martial or the King or someone who can do something."

" I did tell them, they did nothing. You saw. Just sit in the ground and poke."

"The corral, what's there?"

"A map. I draw it. They sit and poke and talk and poke, but do nothing."

"How long do we have?"

"Week"

"You'll never be able to do it alone"

"I try"

"You'll die"

"Then I die trying"

"No. Wait. We're Heralds, damn it, we stick together. Hold on."

_: Hey graybeard:_

_: Yes:_

_: Use your little Companion thing and get all of us together out here:_

_: There are only ten Heralds in residence. I don't see the point:_

_: Get the trainees then:_

_: You are out of your minds:_

_: Do it:_

            "I just mind-spoke my Companion she's going to get us all together. We can all run to warn the border."

"I won't risk the lives. This is dangerous."

"We're Heralds, or at least we will be, don't starting prattling about danger. We know full well what the job entails." 

It only took a few minutes to gather everyone. Ten full Heralds and almost fifty trainees circled around the Companions paddock. Hoshi began to explain the vision and the Council's reluctance to do anything about it. 

Janna took over the assignments. Trainees over the third year of training had special armor fitted for them,  to train with just in case they ever needed it as full Heralds. She let them go to get it on while the younger ones began to saddle the Companions. Suddenly people began pouring into the paddock. The entire Healing Collegium, trainee, teacher and resident walked over to Hoshi; led by Cedric. 

"I got the message. You're going to need help"

"How many?"

"Almost forty, if you don't count the trainees"

"Janna, we've got forty more"

"Damn, even riding double we couldn't make it work"

            "What about them?" Hoshi pointed to the un-partnered Companions that were milling around the paddock. 

"Would they take a rider?"

Janna paused for a minute, 'listening'  

"Yes, they'll take a rider"

It was pure chaos. Forty healers, ten full Heralds, nearly thirty trainee's and almost a hundred partnered and un-partnered Companions were milling about the paddock in disarray. It got together though. Within fifteen minutes the trainees had the war saddles on the Companions, packed with rations, and the other trainees and Heralds had the full armor and weapons ready. The Healers had their trauma kits, spare greens and the occasional chest or leg armor stuck around. Every Companion of age to bear a rider was recruited, even those of the trainees who would stay behind. The rest, pregnant or too young, waited to see their fellows off. 

Janna mounted first, Hoshi followed, as did Suki who was going on this little trip as well. They wheeled and burst though the palace gates, to the surprise of the midwatch. The largest assembly of Companions and their Riders ever remembered began down the road at top speed. There wasn't much time; they had to get to the border to warn the guard    


	6. Notes

Disclaimer: Don't own it.  Wish I did.  Don't sue.  Don't get offended.

Thanks: MOM- I love you 

Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that- chill  

 Miss Sharp: for putting up with me God knows why.

_Author's note: _

_There are several ways I can take this story.  As I have said, there will be no more post until I get some serious reviewing done.  Everyone who has done his or her happy little Heraldic duty and reviewed my little project is a wonderful human being.  I need some input on which direction to take it and I'm not budging 'till I get it._

_Happy Reading!_


	7. The Dawn Patrol

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did. Don't sue. Don't get offended.

Thanks: MOM- I love you 

Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that- chill

Little-tony-ette: go girl   

 Miss Sharp: for putting up with me God knows why.

Murdock

Herald Murdock had been the Lord Marshal's Herald for nearly fifty years. His tenure had been long and relatively peaceful, for a Herald, but as he watched the platoon of Companions sprint off into the distance he felt a chill of foreboding. Sighing he turned to his desk and the letter of resignation he'd drafted, copied and sent to the King that afternoon. No one knew it yet, but as of ten that night Hoshi had been officially appointed as the successor to his position.

 The King would be livid, but it was the only way to protect her from the legal sharks of the court. He was so far out of his element in comparison to his young successor it wasn't funny. She was so young; she had no clue what kind of dangers she'd set herself up for. Before she left she didn't even have the authority to do what she did. She had it now. 

The King would be livid. That was all he could think. It needed to be done, however. He had to begin drafting instructions to the border sectors of Evendim and Karse one and two. However fast Companions traveled, birds could still fly faster. He could get the message of her 'appointment' to the colonel of the regiment before she arrived. That afternoon, while the council endlessly debated, they'd come up with a strategy that might, might work. It was desperate, but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

The King would be livid. Life went on. If this worked, he'd live with the consequences. 

Hardin

"SHE WHAT!"

"She left with the entire complement of the House of Healing, half the trainees and all of the Heralds currently in residence."

"How in the name of nine that happen?"

"They mounted their Companions and rode down the…"

"Don't give me that Murdock! I know damn well 'how' they're riding down to the border. What on earth gave her the idea that she could do this without the permission of the King and Council?"

"She's the Lord Marshal's Herald, majesty. She has the authority to mobilize and order the Heraldic, trainee, Bardic and Healers collegians however she sees fit. With the permission of the Dean and the teachers."

"Since when has she been the Lord Marshal's Herald?"

"As of ten last night, sir."

"How convenient"

"It needed to be done, majesty"

"You may be right, Murdock, but how in the hell am I supposed to explain this to the Council? Half the population of the palace just walked out the bloody gates."

"Someone needed to warn Karse border one and two. We only have so many birds and none of the villages have bird coves. The Healers can prevent more casualties than are absolutely necessary, the trainees are to warn the villages and prepare a defense- no more. We can mobilize the troops and get them there in two weeks. If the border can hold off the attack for just a few days that will buy us enough time to set up a perimeter and fortify the roads. Karse won't make the capital by March as they have planned. They'll be stopped in their tracks."

"Logical and pragmatic. Gods be praised Murdock, they're just children."

"Those 'children' know full well that by taking the commitment to become a Herald they've signed away any right they have of living a peaceful life. Hoshi only took the people who'd learned how to accept that."

"How am I going to live with their deaths on my conscience?"

"If they save Valdemar from the Karsites, then they've done their duty. We can expect no more and demand no less"

The Pack

   Most of the organization of the border defense was done a-horseback. Mindspeech was a wonderful thing. It was decided that only the experienced Heralds would actually go to the end of the border. The trainees, in lessoning gradients of experience in the field, would warn the villages further back. The Healers would also have to ride to warn the towns. 

Hoshi had a very specific idea about how the borders were to be defended. It was a total war scenario. Not very pretty. Everyone would be ordered to defend the villages to the last. The trees would be pulled down on the road behind the retreating trainees and Healers. Everything would be put to the torch. Nothing the Karsites could gain on the ground would be worth anything. The Healers carried flasks of powdered Lysergium. Mixed with water it formed a gelatinous paste. Smeared on arrows, swords, spears or pitchforks it was an instant nerve agent. The victim would die on impact, if not seconds afterwards.   

Valdemar had never resorted to a total war scenario before. It made some of the Heralds sick to think about the casualties that would be inflicted. Hoshi was unrepentant. If total war carried the day, she would live with the consequences.

Sweetsprings

The mayor of Sweetsprings was a proud man. He'd helped hold off Karsite invasions for his entire life. There was a border station living there, they were experienced warriors too. When he'd got the word to prepare for the mother of all invasions, they'd simply packed up the population and begin the almost annual retreat to the main fort. 

"Hold"

It was a Companion. In a state of exhaustion he'd never seen a Companion.

"You will not retreat."

"What in the bloody hell do you mean 'not retreat' I've got a village to protect."

"It is too late. They will come before you can get to safety. You can either die here fighting or die on the road running."

"You're serious?"

"Yes" 

"And how in the name of the Gods do expect me to tell my people they've got a death warrant over their heads?"

"Tell them"

"It'll be a riot."

"No.  I will see to that.  If you can hold the border for an hour longer or an afternoon more, then we can protect the capital.  This is your duty border man.  Do not shirk it."   

"I've never shirked a duty in me life"

"Good"

This Herald was of a type he'd never seen.  Instead of the silver and steel armor he'd known Heralds wore, she'd donned black.  She ordered the people gathered in the town square.

  She'd told them. 

 People had cried, shouted, wailed, but they had, in the end, decided to hold.

No the true skill of the Herald that joined them came to the fore.  She ordered every alcoholic beverage in the town to be brought to the main square.  They were dumped into a series of cauldrons, mixed with coal dust and tar, and then poured into every container available.  They were sealed with wax and a cloth wick was thrust into the lid.  These were to be homemade grenades.

She ordered the trees in the green to be chopped down and used for creating weapons.  Spears, halberds, and clubs; every possible weapon in the town was given to all of age and heath to bear a weapon. The others were sent to the main fort in a desperate attempt to save as many lives as possible. 

Across the Karsite border every village was given the same instructions: make yourself homemade bombs, find every weapon available, do whatever it takes to slow down the army that would be advancing on their position.  If they could make the Karsites hold for one week more the regular army would be at the border.  All they had to do was hold.  Heralds, trainees, Healers, and regular bordermen wore horses and Companions to exhaustion getting the message spread.  Then they retreated to the main fort and all they could do was wait.            


	8. Attack

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Tony-o: for courage & the right things to do

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Albright 

The attack was proceeding as planned.  The pirates were more than succeeding on the Evendim shoreline.  As a matter of fact, they may just well have gone all the way if he'd actually been serious about attacking there.  He made a mental note to remind himself about the vulnerability on that side of Valdemar.  A stroke from that half, when everyone was defending the capital in a last ditch battle would cripple the demon riders. 

Life was good.  The black robes assured him that the shield was still holding, they would have no clue what was happening until it actually happened. Surprise, he mused was the greatest ally a general could have. 

He rode foreword, to check the ranks of the shock troopers. They were the finest Karse had to offer.  The ranks held only the trained and seasoned, all were experienced with what the demon riders had to throw at them.  No one would give in fright. 

"Soldiers!  This is your General!  It is a privilege to be commanding you and an honor to serve with you.  Your fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and sons have fought the demon riders for generations beyond counting.  This campaign victory will be ours!"

He paused to allow the cheering and whistling to die down. 

"Thanks to the exceptional efforts of our priests we have an unbeatable shield.  Vikandis smiles down on us!"

Again the cheering frenzy.  Superstition was a powerful force, he mused. 

"This time tomorrow we will be in Valdemar!"

He spurred his horse to a canter and surveyed the troops.  Rank after rank and row on row cheered and shouted at the sight of him.  This was a fine army.  Nearly ten thousand of Karse's finest; archers, ballista, crossbowmen, and heavy and light cavalry. No one could stop him.  They would take Valdemar this time.

Colonel Brandon 

Enrich Brandon was a Colonel in the Valdemaran army.  He'd earned that position through years of hard work and sacrifice.  He was now in charge of the single most important border fort in Valdemar.  He'd been defending people from the Karsites for the better part of his life.  Never, in all his years of service, had he ever seen such an emergency. 

Heralds and Companions were in and out, some no more than children, with little more than food and a few hours snatched to sleep.  People poured in from the surrounding countryside.  Preparations were in order.  Hoshi, the new Lord Marshal's Herald, joined him on the parapet. 

"How goes it?"

He shrugged, "How do you expect it to go?"

"Better than if this had been a total surprise."

"If you look at it that way."  She nodded.

"Are you absolutely sure this is going to happen?"

"I have never been wrong."

"Never?"

"Yes"

"I wish you were."

"So do I.  I always do."

"It must not be a fun gift to have."

"No.  It is not."

"Is there anything else we should be doing?"

"Do you have the plows working?"

"Yes. For the fat lot of good it will do us."

"You don't think it will work?"

"I don't see how it could."

" Patience.  All will work as planned."

"How can you be so damn confident?"

"It's a gift."

The irony of that statement was so, …just so very ironic that he had to laugh.  It was more on the edge of hysterical tears, but people were like that. 

"How do you bloody cope with this?  You're too damn calm."

"Don't mistake composure for ease, Colonel, I am as concerned as you are."

"Damned Heralds."

"Not quite yet"

Burnings 

They kept running: Healer, Herald, and trainee.  There was always one more life that could be saved and one more battle to be fought.  Even when Karsites crashed through the border, even when they put the buildings to the torch, even when they died. 

Back at Fort Drell, the army began to arrive.  Slowly, a trickle of soldiers came, their beasts pushed to foundering.  They watched from the parapet as the border sectors went to flames. Coolly, almost coldly, Hoshi carefully marked the progress of the army.  The Farseers also watched from the parapet.  Colonel Brandon watched the Farseers 'watch' the army.  Every few hours, one of them would break out of their trance, green with sickness from what they 'saw'.  The area beneath the parapet suddenly became a very unpopular place to stand. 

Almost once a day the bell in the big tower started to ring.  This was no Haven; the bell had to be tolled by hand, but when that happened every Herald in residence suddenly had somewhere else they needed to be, often with tears in their eyes. Refugees crowded the Fort.  Hoshi had them sent further in-country. Hoshi was a machine; she had everything planned down to the smallest detail.  He never saw her fade, falter, or pale.  When Heralds appeared at the gate she knew, often without prompting, where they'd come from and where they needed to be. 

The fires burned closer and closer, but never quite reached the perimeter.  Hoshi had them spread butter thin.  There were nearly fifty furlongs of Karseite borderland.  They had almost six hundred soldiers, with more on the way.  Every single one of the soldiers was spread out on the entire length of the border.  It was nowhere near the amount necessary to hold off an assault of ten thousand penguins, let alone Karse's best soldiers, but she had a plan.  It was outrageous, unthinkable, but just possible.  It was just barely possible, if all of it went precisely as planned. 

Precision was key.  It was the absolute key.

Albright 

This was outrageous it was positively unthinkable.  They knew, they knew this was going to happen. Somehow they knew it.  There was a traitor in his ranks.  That was the only explanation.  There was no way the demon riders could have possibly seen this coming.  The bloody black robes were annoying, but they knew their stuff.  The shield over the Karsites hadn't been dropped until the day before.  There was no way they could have possibly prepared this in a day.  No way. 

"Filthy, dirty, rotten, traitors!"  He shouted over the din of battle.  These Valdemarans were not trained to fight: they were villagers.  Determined villagers, but villagers nonetheless.  His troops could deal with it.  They were being delayed, though, another five days and the Valdemaran army would be there to stop his advance.  The bloody, stupid demon riders, how the hell could they have known??

"Fight!  Fight you bastards!  These are villagers!  NO more!"

Albright was impressed by the villager's preparation.  They were not trained, not by a long shot, but they were inflicting casualties.  He knew the first rule of combat.  In order to defeat the enemy, you must first kill their will to fight.  His troops were experienced, but day-by-day the ranks were being thinned.  For even the most experienced fighter this would be devastating: you never knew who would be next.  His soldiers knew that, he knew that, and whoever was in charge on the other side of the lines knew that. 

 This was not the old man Murdock.  He was too conservative for a total war scenario.  Someone else was in charge, someone who knew his stuff, someone, he mused, who wasn't afraid to send people to die.  That was not a Valdemaran tactic.  The bleeding whiteshirts cared too much about 'the common man' to send him out to die for his country. This was the tactic of an experienced soldier who'd seen the worst and prepared for it. Albright experienced a moment of absent-minded admiration for the Field Marshal who planned this counter-campaign.  It would be interesting to see what the bloody whiteshirt had planned: in a purely academic sense, of course.  No matter what admiration he had for this Valdemaran Field Marshal, Albright had a duty to Karse to destroy him utterly.  The fact that this Marshal was a brilliant tactician and competent soldier was merely icing on the cake. It made his job more difficult, but victory would be even sweeter if he actually had to work for it.        


	9. Defend

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Tony-o: for courage & the right things to do

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Suki 

Suki was having the time of her life. She'd accompanied her Lady Hoshi on many campaigns before. None of this alarming magnitude, but what the hey- more people meant more fun! She was in charge of coordinating communication between the border posts. Every border post was within clear slight of the others. They had little cauldrons of flammable material. If the Karsites were sighted, they lit the fire. The signal was passed down the line. Suki posted a Herald within mind-range of his Companion and at least one other Herald. They had an unobstructed line of communication along the full fifty furlongs of Karsite border. It was lovely. Donni was more than obliging in keeping Suki updated with the various messages, and she in turn kept Hoshi informed.

Hoshi was being a pain in the butt as usual; she always got tense during a campaign. No reason to, really, with her gift there was no way the plan could fail. Suki bounced about with her halberd and her battle armor, spreading good cheer and happiness. She loved the tents, loved the dirt and the dust and the sweaty, nasty training. It was great fun, a good campaign was always great fun. 

"Hello!!" 

"Hi, Suki. You seen Hoshi around?"

"Hai, she is somewhere up on the parapet. I think she watch the army come."

" Lovely"

Puzzled, she looked back at him, "You no like the war?"

"NO! Of course not, war is so terribly wasteful and horrid"

"Well, yes, but the campaign is great fun!"

"Fun?"

"You a Healer, I guess you see it different."

"You're damn right I see it different." 

"Temper, temper, relax and have some fun."

"Whatever, where's Hoshi?"

"I tell you, she on the tower."

"Thanks"

"She may no want to see anyone now, better you come back later."

"Bloody hell, come on! I've not seen hide nor hair of the damn woman for days and now you're telling me she doesn't want to see me?"

"Not you, really, she just no have time for extra people right now. The King comes and he is always demanding time, and Lady Sophia is here and she needs time, and the damn Lord Marshal is here and he is always whining."

"You don't like the Lord Marshal do you?"

"He is bad, very bad for campaign."

"What do you mean?"

"Nosy old coot. He no likes Lady Hoshi running things the way they needs be run. He the one who stopped her from the campaign before and make her come here alone."

"That's not right."

"No. He is bad for campaign."

"Do you know when she can see me?"

"No"

"Thanks, Suki"

"You're Welcome!"

Suki decided to keep an eye on that young man. Cedric was all well and good in Haven when her Lady had time to spend, but he was getting demanding. It was Suki's job to make sure her Lady got enough food and sleep to function properly, that did not include playing 'healer in the hay' with pretty boy Cedric.  A moment's pause was all it gave her before she decided that it would be better if she played a stupid as possible with him. It wasn't hard, Suki knew she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but if he had problems finding her Lady because Suki couldn't give accurate directions, that was his own stupid fault for losing track of Hoshi in the first place. 

_:Hey bird brain:_

"Hai"

_:We've got a sighting of the Karsites. Looks like Lady Luck has run out on us.:_

"Good, I go tell Hoshi"

No one really noticed her talking out in mid air. They'd gotten used to the idea of Donni communicating with her and her natural inability to mindspeak back. Suki bounced, a little more energetically, over to the King's tent. If the Karsites were sighted, that meant she and Hoshi would be in battle much more quickly, battle was always something to look forewords to. 

Sophia

Sophia was in her brother's good graces for the moment. She'd got word that the army would be here a day sooner than anticipated. It wasn't much given the recent sighting of the Karsites only a half-furlong from the fort. Hoshi's plan would now be tested to the utmost. Sophia walked over to the Quartermaster General of Fort Drell. 

"How goes the re-provisioning?"

He gave a short laugh, "Re-provisioning is it Lady Herald? It seems like a damn risky operation if you ask me."

"Do you think it will work?"

"It's so bloody crazy, it may just well"

"How many uniforms do you have left?"

"Not a single stitch.  Everything we've got in the re-stock stores has been distributed to the civilians.  Tents, uniforms, weapons, and food - Everything."

"Do you think they'll believe it?"

"Lady Hoshi thinks it'll work Herald.  That's good enough for me."

"Is it then?"  She murmured, out of earshot. 

_: They have a surprising amount of faith in her abilities:_

_:Of course they do, twit. She can see the future, tell them things that will happen, see the enemy before they see her:_

_:Or at least we hope she can:_

_: Losing faith Sophi ?:_

_: Maybe, just a bit.  It's a terrible gamble:_

_:It's a terrible situation:_

_:Is that supposed to make me feel better?:_

_: You know better than anyone about how you're supposed to feel:_

_: Screw that:_

_A mental sigh: Chosen, you need to relax:_

_: You're sounding like Hardin:_

_: He knows what's good for you:_

_: Oh shut up:_

She was pulled by her gift towards the makeshift House of Healing.  It was like a beacon call on her empathic radar.  It was heartbreaking to go in a see the reams of people who had lost everything on their backs but their pride.  There was a lot of pride in the house of healing.  Sophia wouldn't have expected it, she didn't tend to believe in stereotypes, but the border-bred **were** proud of their toughness.  They were proud to die or loose everything they had for the amorphous conglomerate of people that was Valdemar.  It was unreal.  Sophia wanted to just wrap them all up in cotton wool and tell them everything would be all right.  She tried to actually say that and believe it herself, but things were hard.  She didn't know it would be all right.  She could only hope and pray that Hoshi knew what she was doing. 

Albright

The army was exhausted.  Not physically, they were too well trained.  They were tired of fighting.  He was within striking distance of a fort that he should have overrun days ago.  The soldiers weren't the only ones who were exhausted.  Albright himself didn't want to keep going into what he suspected was the heart of the Valdemaran defense with tired troops. 

Things were going horribly wrong. The Black robe priests, who only days ago promised to wipe the villages off the face of the map were huddled in the tents, afraid to even show their faces.  They said it was as if the whole country was watching them every movement, gesture, and action.  It got worse as they used their magic.  He'd had to take the last few villages un-assisted.  It wasn't much more work, but it made the difference with the men.  There were rumors flying around that the demon riders could drain a man's life with a glance, that they hurl bolts and call fire and drank blood and did every evil thing under the sun. Things went missing, little bits like luck charms, command whistles, wagon pins, copies of Sunlord Triumphant, all of the little things that made a tent a home away from home.

Wine soured, brandy barrels cracked, horses spooked, bread went stale, weapons went dull, and those damn demon riders knew how this would affect the deeply superstitious army of Karse. Some one in the command structure of Valdemar knew what made an army tick and was now systematically removing the little things that couldn't be quantified, but made all of the difference.  His soldiers were rapidly loosing the will to fight.  Without even being on the field his army was slowly being defeated.         


	10. By the Dawn's Early Light

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Tony-o: for courage & the right things to do

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Rebecca 

Becca and her partner in crime Gwendolyn were two of the trainees who'd been hurriedly appointed to be makeshift Heralds. They were both quality Fetchers, able to get things from furlongs away, more if they could get a 'ride' off of one of the Farseers.  The past week had been spent fetching to the point of exhaustion. Hoshi had ordered a list of things to take and they were given free rein to snatch whatever else they could manage. Rings, necklaces, insignia, barrel corks, small pictures, icons, tent pegs, or anything they could manage.  They'd actually made a sort of game out of the thefts. 

The army was getting closer and closer.  She and Gwen were now working directly with Hoshi to try and steal battle plans, pilfer command whistles, start up the priestly firekits, and send in flaming homemade grenades. It was horribly painful work.  They were working themselves into terminal reaction-headaches all the time.  The other Heralds, if not on border watch, were trying their hands on sabotage as well.  Hedrick was top quality with animal mindspeech and he was spooking horses and scaring away game left and right.  Kieran had a terminal green thumb, he was encouraging weeds and plants to come up and choke the wagons or the tents.  Meredith was using her ability to manipulate fluids to sour wine, make fresh water go stale, and make good beer go bitter.

It was a kind of ingenious plan to demoralize the army. None of them knew if it was working, but it seemed like a good idea. The army of Karse was stopping, or slowing down at least. They were gathering the forces they'd spread out over the sector to apparently take the fort with all they had. It made their lives much easier. A moving target was a lot more difficult to hit. 

The only sticking point in the whole 'master plan' was that the Valdemaran army was still two days away and Hoshi projected an attack at dawn tomorrow.  They had the civilians in the fort dressed out in army uniforms, it did make it seem as though there were more people, especially the army officers, at Fort Drell, but who in their right mind would believe that the army of Valdemar was here? Sure there were tents and people, but if push came to shove the civilians at Fort Drell were already the sick and lame and old and too young to fight. Hoshi was now masterminding a plan to stuff old uniforms with straw and dirt and gravel to place on the front lines as well as the real soldiers. No one in their right mind would believe they were a real army, not a thousand actual soldiers, twice that again civilians, and the same number of stuffed dummies on wheels. Hoshi also had plowed over the area around the fort, sowing the ground with the combustible mixture that she was now famous for inventing. If they walked close enough to the fort the Karsites were in for one hell of a surprise. There was more of the stuff sitting in cauldrons; the mixture kept frozen over in the winter nights. Hoshi had them pound that into crystallized dust and placed into leaky grain sacks that spread the cocktail like snow over the firing trajectory. Black snow. Snow that would ignite with one hit of a flaming arrow and burn everything it touched to the ground. 

Sub-commander Mesick

Mesick was the commanding officer of the scouts and spies that Karse brought with them to keep tabs on the army of Valdemar. To his nearest projection the Valdemaran army was at least two days away at maximum speed. An attack at dawn would then, as projected, utterly destroy any resistance within the next day to two days march. At least that was the plan. He'd been getting strange reports that the amount of soldiers at Fort Drell was rapidly swelling. There seemed now to be an inexhaustible supply of soldiers available to the demon riders. This was, as projected, completely impossible. He needed to re-check his calculations.

"Mesick!"

"Sir, yes sir!" He snapped to attention. Not this, anything but Lord Albright. The man was possessed. He was brilliant, but no one in Karse up to and including the Son of the Sun himself, wanted to cross this General. People who defied him had nasty ways of 'disappearing' and  ' re-emerging' in small pieces. 

"What is this I hear about a seemingly magical appearance of soldiers at Fort Drell. Have the demon riders been increasing the ranks?"

"Well, sir, it's very hard to say. There does seem to be a slight discrepancy in the…"

"DAMN YOU MESICK GIVE ME AN ANSWER!"

"Yes!" he squeaked, " I don't know what's happening. All of a sudden they just appeared. Please don't kill me!"

"Kill you? Why should I kill you Sub-Commander? Have you only reported that which the demon riders have done?"

" Yes"

"Or is it that you have concealed this from your Lord Captain Commander since the beginning? TRAITOR!"

"No! No, sir please, there has been no indication that the army was any closer than two days away for weeks! I made no error in calculation. See, look!"

"Damn, bloody, flaming bastard whiteshirts! They knew. Somehow they knew. This is the army of Valdemar. Make no mistake about that. I suggest, Mesick, that you start looking on the inside, rather than the outside, for an explication. " 

"Sir?"

"You heard me. We attack at dawn. Make your last requests, Mesick, I want answers before then"

" Yes Sir!" The Lord Captain Commander left, trailing attaché's left and right. Mesick sank to his knees and prayed with all his might to Vikandis Sunlord that he could find something to pacify his commander before dawn. Or he was dead meat.

Dawn 

The army marched at dawn. They went inescapably forward. The men had been hours away from deserting from fear and superstition. The Valdemarans had inexplicably multiplied overnight. Soldiers were goaded into action only through a combination of duty and threat. They'd left several mutinous soldiers hanging from tree limbs to 'encourage' the rest to follow orders. They reached the plain of Fort Drell and halted. 

A messenger was sent to the Valdemarans to tell them to surrender or die. It was a shaky proposition at best and he was chased back with arrows at his heels. 

**" The soldiers will advance!!"**

A great cry went up among the Karsites. The officers goaded, whipped, and slashed until their men feared their own commanders more than the demon riders ahead. In the cold winter dawn, the recently plowed plain glittered in the morning sunlight. It was surprisingly damp, muddy in the cold with a combination of flammable cocktail and melting frost. 

The fort was eerily quiet. No arrow, crossbolt, spear or stone flew at the advancing army. It was spooky. The first ranks advanced, until an entire company was on the plowed mud, knocking at the door of the fort. 

Within the fort Hoshi did no more than nod. With her direction dozens, if not hundreds of leaky grain sacks, full of crushed, frozen flame flew over the heads of the enemy, sprinkling them with deadly black snow. 

A line of archers dipped their arrows into the liquid cocktail; they were lit, pulled back, and released. 

The very ground broke out in flame.

Flame, the symbol of Vickandis Sunlord, was used in Karse to represent the will of the God. With the sudden, flaming, fireball the entire army of Karse turned tail and ran. That was the final omen. There would be no war this season.

The fireball died out almost as quickly as it lit. Methane, ethanol, and alcohol, although flammable, were quickly spent. The damage, however, had been done.

The army of Valdamar only a bare thousand trained soldiers and Heralds chased in close pursuit. There was no fight. The Karsites they managed to reach were more than willing to fall face first and surrender. They were chased to the ground.    

  They ran to the old border, hoping to find solace with the Holderkin. They were not welcomed. Harried by pitchfork, scythe, shovel and plow blade the Karsites, caught between deranged farmers and angry soldiers, were crushed. Albright Sol Arum, Lord Captain Commander of the Army of the Son of the Sun, was captured two days into the retreat.              


	11. The Chains of Freedom

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Tony-o: for courage & the right things to do

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Sergeant-Major Breckenridge 

Sar-major Breck, as he was called, was in charge of prisoners.  It was his job to 'contain' the unfortunate souls who were not destroyed in the Karsite retreat.  It was not an enviable position.  The men, once he got to them, were scared so badly of the Heralds and the army officers that his job was virtually done for him.  He mentally applauded Hoshi's daring gambit.  She scared them out of their minds.  No one would fight if they were scared stiff.  He was getting more and more people under his tender care. Some of them were in really bad shape and had to be treated in the 'house of healing' that traveled with the army.  He was heading there now to pick up the latest batch of detainee's.

"Heyla Cedric, got any fresh meat for me?"

"Sar-major, how nice to see you.  Please come in and have some tea and scones while we have a nice little chat."

"Are you getting fresh with me, boy?"

"No, sir, sar-major sir!  No freshness at all."  He grinned.

"Damn Healers"

"Don't be so quick to judge.  We may well be patching you up tomorrow.  Wouldn't want my hand to slip and give you argonol instead of angel fire."

"Don't get snippy with me greenshirt.  You're to get me my guests for Camp Breck."

"Just be good to this batch, I don't want to patch up the lot of them again."

"Ayah, will do"

His experience eye for evaluating human cargo flew over the sequestered 'wing' of the 'hospital'.  Some of the ex-Karsite soon-to-be prisoners were not in any kind of shape to go anywhere.  The others were healed enough to head down to Camp Breck and begin their service to Valdemar.  He picked out the sturdiest of the lot and began to tie them together into a gang.  They were to work for their lunch.  If they weren't well enough to get some real physical labor then they pushed paper or ran messages. It kept the wheels of progress rolling.

"Thankee much Cedric.  I'll be taking this lot of them." 

"Be my guest."

 The Sar-major picked the healthiest and the most able. They were mostly tall, fair men with the deep sunk eyes on them that marked those just freshly speed-healed. They were dressed in the uniform of the Karsite army, soon-to-be exchanged for the blue of the Valdemaran Guard. One was a little less shocked than the rest; by his uniform he was an officer and seemed to take watch for the other men. Breck decided to put him in charge of the gang for the time being. There was nothing like a little good hard work to speed the indoctrination process. Whistling, Breck marched them off to the barracks. 

Sophia 

The Kings Own was getting quite an empathic workout.  She had dozens of traumatized Heralds, soldiers, and civilians to sort out.  Not to mention the duties inherent to the Kings Own involving the rest of the nation. The Holderkin were also petitioning for admittance into Valdemar on the grounds of mistreatment by Karse. If that wasn't enough she still had Hoshi to deal with and the complications of making her a full Herald and the Herald to the Lord Marshal.  Not all of this was her responsibility, but she was still preoccupied enough about it that it made life interesting. 

"Hey Hoshi"

"Hello Lady Sophia"

"You know you don't really need to call me 'lady'."

"You King's sister.  That makes you a 'lady' "

She sighed; one more thing Sophia needed to fix was Hoshi's insistence on formal titles.  There was a time and place for formal protocol and a battlefield was not it.

"Yes, well.  How goes the advance?"

"We've taken forty furlongs of Karsite territory.  We now concentrate on solidifying the position before we advance further."

"How far do you plan on advancing?"

"As far as we can go."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I see we can make the City of the Sun by March.  There is no resistance left within Karse.  We destroy most of army.  Can march until we capture the King, take country, and make part of Valdemar."

"Do we really want to do that?"

"Why not?  End problem with Karse right now."

"They don't want to be part of Valdemar."

"So?"

"So we can't just force them to obey our laws and become part of the country." 

"Why not? Army makes job easy."

"That's not our way. We take only those that want to come."

Hoshi gave Sophia a very level look.  There was something very evaluating in her gaze.  The glasses made her look like a spinster schoolteacher with a miscreant student.  She was still in armor, black, as was her habit.  She had a white cloak; about four sizes to big, thrown over her shoulders to mark her newly won rank.  She walked, but Donni was close behind, stunning in silver and blue and with a cheerfully soot streaked rider that was Suki. 

"Very good Lady Sophia.  We take only what we given."

"There is no one true way Hoshi, remember that."  She was inwardly surprised at the lack of resistance to the argument.  Surprised enough to sent out a little trickle of 'feeling' towards Hoshi. 

There was something BIG on her mind. Something she was devoting a lot of attention to. Something, Sophia realized, that had to do with her gift and the situation with Cedric. Sophia hastily withdrew the contact Hoshi stopped her walking.  She turned to face Sophia. 

"Sorry, there was something on your mind. I thought I could help." 

"There is always something on my mind."

"Something important."

"I think about Cedric."

Suki broke in, wide-eyed and slightly hysterical. "What about him?  Is he going to… No he can't. You didn't see…"

"No," she said quickly, reassuring "Not that."

 Sophia saw Hoshi's troubled look, "You can trust me. I'm the Kings Own, it's my job to listen if you've got a problem in your relationship." 

Hoshi sighed deeply and frowned. 

"Not your problem"

"If you need anything…"

"You here"

"Not just me. The whole bunch of us is ready and willing to help if you've got a problem. Heralds stick together. I know its rough understanding it at first. We're your family in every sense of the word."

"We hold our own."

"You don't have to."

"We will," said Hoshi firmly. 

Sophia sighed; this little concept was getting nowhere.  "Just remember that"

They looked at each other and nodded. 

"We will"

Line Gang #146 

Albright Sol Arum, once the Lord Captain Commander of the army of the Son of the Sun, was now the line leader of prisoner gang #146.  His fall from grace had been surprisingly quick. He accepted his lot almost with gratitude.  In Karse a Valdemaran, if captured, would be gone to the sacrificial fires within days.  He had not only been spared a gruesome torture and execution, but healed of his injuries and allowed work, food, and the companionship of his fellow soldiers.  It was perplexing.  To him at least.

"Boys to the road"

Grunts, moans, and the general nitpicking of men assigned any kind of hard labour accompanied his shout. The only minor restraint was the rope, plain hempen cord, which bound each of them to the other at the waist.  The guard assigned to watching his gang was an injured soldier, his left arm bound in a sling.  Albright marveled at the confidence the Valdemarans had in allowing the 'prisoners' so much freedoms and relative luxuries, while at the same time the confidence in the prisoner's good intentions to assign a wounded man to guard a healthy, strong group of men with only a rope to hamper their rebellion. 

It was perplexing.  It also said something about the people he was now among. 

Albright rubbed the stubble of his scalp in a thoughtful manner.  They'd shaved it to prevent the spread of lice and other nasty things, but other than that there was no real difference between the wardrobe of a prisoner of Valdemar and that of a soldier of Valdemar. He was slightly sorry to have his full mane of blonde hair gone, it was his only real vanity, but he accepted the exchange of his freedoms. 

They ate with the troops, they worked beside troops, and they slept in the same barracks.  It was unreal. He realized that if he began seeing his captors as real people and not captors, that they would not hold the same fear that a demonic jailor would. He was already unwilling to reveal his true identity to the soldiers, for fear once it was done they'd stop treating him as a fellow, and more as an abstraction of the army they'd defeated.  His duty to Karse was rebellion, but he'd quashed talk of that among his men in the gang.  He didn't want them to injure the guards as much as he didn't want his own men hurt in the exchange. 

Their job was to clear out the roads that had been fouled during the retreat.  They loaded scrap lumber and brick into wagons destined for the Fort.  Other gangs helped re-build houses and places of worship destroyed in the flame.  They worked side-by-side with the Army engineers and soldiers.  The people brought them water and food during rest breaks.  Certainly there was animosity towards Karse for what had been done, but the prisoners weren't mistreated by anyone.  They began, in fact, to feel guilty for the horrors inflicted and desperate for amends.  It was, to quote a famous Valdemaran General, "the perfect system". 


	12. Sleepytime

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Tony-o: for courage & the right things to do

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Sleepytime 

Nighttime in the Valdemaran camp was a very interesting affair.  With the post haste arrival of the rest of the army, they were crowded into half again as many tents as were necessary for a force their size.  The prisoners also made it a very cozy situation.  They remedied the situation by 'hot' bunking the cot, more than one individual was entitled to a single bed.  They were 'hot' because the shift switches always kept one person asleep at a time; the cot would still be warm from the body heat of its previous occupant. 

Hoshi was no exception to the rule; she shared a tent with Suki, Sophia, Gwen, Mattie, and Janna.  They slept off and on, in twelve to fourteen hour shifts.  She shared her cot with Suki.  Hoshi, Mattie, and Sophia were usually together at one time.  Hoshi hadn't had any problems with her Gift thus far, at least since the initial vision that prompted the whole campaign.  She wasn't to be that lucky tonight.

_The perspective shifted, she was flying upside-down over the capital_

Hoshi groaned, sick with the disorientation her mind imposed on her_._

_It was the temple district, the homes of the Gods of Valdemar. The people didn't look up as her mind's eye flew up up up and over them.  There was a processional.  Formally attired people crowded the precinct in jubilation._

"Oh crap," she thought, "who'd try and kill at a wedding processional?"

_The happy couple smiled and laughed, the man wore a green tunic and robe.  The woman wore black. _

"Black is a color of mourning in Valdemar" Hoshi thought, puzzled, "it is not like Nagano where the white is the symbol of sorrow and black of jubilation"

 _   Most of the other guests wore green, not white, and many of them were Heralds.  Hoshi was one of them._

Shock filled Hoshi, could she be watching her own death?

_Perspective again shifted, she was beside herself, watching from the rear as the couple made their vows.  The man was tall, the woman short, and the vows were lovingly given. _

A chill of foreboding filled Hoshi; she recognized the feeling from meeting Cedric the other day.  She'd walked over to talk to him, and the feeling had magnified a hundredfold. 

_The happy couple turned, to file jubilantly down the aisle.  Shock fell down to her toes.  It was a wedding all right; it was Cedric and Suki's wedding._

Hoshi woke with an outraged shout, in a cold sweat. 

Sophia

She was tired, bone weary.  Things, while going smoothly were still incredibly time consuming.  She stumbled in the semi-darkness to the tent she shared with several other Heralds, including Hoshi.  It was very relaxing to sleep in a close proximity of other Heralds.  They were trained to shield without even thinking, to an Empath, that was a gift without measure. 

Except Hoshi. She did shield without thinking, which was the first thing they taught her.  Even through the peripheral shielding she was a restless sleeper.  It was the Foresight coming to her in her dreams.

Sophia checked on her regularly as she came to the tent.  It was partially habit and partially concern for such a powerful gift in the hands of one so inexperienced in mind magic.  She wasn't the only one.  Mattie, who also shared the tent, checked up on Hoshi routinely.  So did Hardin, so did Suki, and so did everyone else.  They made sure she got enough sleep, ate regularly, and spent some time, however minimal, relaxing.  Left to her own devices she would work herself into her grave. 

Sophia's eyes adjusted to the dark, Hoshi was asleep, restlessly, but asleep.  Sophia readied herself for bed, chatting sleepily with Mattie, who'd come in after her.  They both dropped off almost instantly.  It was a Heraldic habit to take sleep when and where it was offered. 

What was not a Heraldic habit was waking up to the screaming of one of their fellow sisters-in-arms.

"What the..."

"Hoshi!'

 "Did you see something?"

"Are you alright?"

"Hoshi!"

"Wake up!"

"Relax, here have some"

"Ohmigod Are you OK?"

"Calm down."

"Breathe"

Hoshi stopped quickly.  She reached for the bucket that, until now, had been curiously placed near her bed.  Sophia now realized that Hoshi had anticipated the nausea of the disorienting visions.  Mattie held her hair back as she returned her dinner, lunch, breakfast, and any other memory of food that could have possibly existed.

"Are you OK?"

"Does it look like I'm Ok?"

"Are you gonna be sick again?"

 "I'm FINE.  Leave me alone."

"You're not fine, you just work up in the middle of a nightmare."  

"What happened?"

"Nothing"

"Bull, Hoshi you're terrified.  I can feel it and I'm pretty sure half the damn camp could hear it.  Now you start talking or I'll declare you medically unfit to continue duty." 

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me" 

"C'mon Hoshi I know she's being drastic, but we're here to help.  Heralds stick together damnit.  Remember what I said when we left Haven.  We've got to stick together." 

_: You can trust them Chosen.  Heralds don't lie.  They'll keep your confidence:_

"Will all of you just shut up!"

Silence reigned.  Sophia set about lighting some candles.  Mattie gave Hoshi her little flask of Ehhris wine. Hoshi sat and drank and slowly started to cry. Hot silent tears streamed down her face, with barely a hiccup or word of protest, she let Sophia come over and wrap Hoshi up in her arms.

"Lovey we look out for each other.  You don't have to face anything alone."

Slowly the tale came out.  Sophia hugged her tightly and Mattie stroked the midnight curtain of her black hair. 

Hiccupping slightly, Hoshi turned a tear-streaked face to her newly discovered friends. 

"Why that have to happen?  We together and happy and everything good and now my stupid, damn, bloody useless gift ruin everything! "

"Well, you're still together, unless there's something you haven't told us, and I'm sure there's something that can be done.  Remember Foresight only show what will happen if nothing changes from the way it is."

"But I no want change it!  What right have me to tell Suki what she can be happy? She take care of me when no one else do. I have no right to take from her anything she want. She give me all. They be happy together. I want them happy. WHY?"

Sophia realized that her command of the language was rapidly slipping as she began to swear and curse the Gods and call all sorts of things out that neither she nor Mattie could decipher. 

"Hoshi.  Hoshi!  Pull yourself together.  We need you thinking and not emoting and crying like some lily-livered raw recruit!"

Still sniffling, Hoshi immediately reacted with the stubborn, mulish expression that Sophia had come to recognize and secretly despise.  Now it proved itself useful. 

"We need to work on this.  Logical, reasoned sensible thought." 

 Hoshi said something in Nagani that sounded too emphatic. 

 " Whatever.  Think woman!  They're going to be together, fine.  You want to see it through, fine.  Quit whining and start thinking.  At the moment they're more inclined to homicide rather than matrimony.  You want it to work, you need to work on it." 

"We'll all work on it," chimed in Mattie. 

"Just think about getting Suki and Cedric together."

The shields in the room, being lowered in the crisis, were thin enough that the sudden image of skinny, bony Cedric and short, plump Suki in a passionate embrace jumped from one woman to the next.  The silly picture set off a round of giggles that none could stifle. 

"They're quite a mismatch aren't they?"  Sophia gasped, between giggles.

"Yup"    

              


	13. The Discovery Channel

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Tony-o: for courage & the right things to do

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Albright 

It was his job to load rubble onto the wagon. Once it was loaded it went to the processing center.  He was happy doing what he did and admired the organization of the persons in charge.  He was on the main thoroughfare of the camp and saw everybody coming in and out.  Even the Heralds. They scared him slightly.  Heralds were those responsible for the collapse of the black robe priests.  They were the Demon riders and had evil magic they used to manipulate men's minds.  The odd part was that the men of Valdemar had no fear of the Heralds, they respected them, loved them even.  Did they not know of the evil purpose of the Heralds? 

It was, he considered, a problem for later.

" Heyla Bright."  He went by a shortened form of his real name.

"Hey-la Ser-gant major, sir!"

"You're gettin' there, fella.  You've learnt our language pretty quick for a grunt.  Not like these other lazy-butt slackers."

"I learn" he grunted, barely audible.

 He had to tread carefully.  No one should really know his education was any better than that of the average grunt.  He could speak good Valdemaran, aristocratic if he must, but that was not the level of education of the average Karsite.

"You read an' write?"

"Some"

"Any Valdemaran?"

 "Nope" Really he could, but that would be too much.

"Think you can handle a paperwork run?"

"Where?"

"King be wantin' to see our progress report. You think you can run it down to the tent?"

"Which one?"

"The one wit the little flag o'top"

  "That?"  He pointed

"Yeah"

"OK" Albright took the field folder of stiff leather, almost identical to similar folders with correspondence for his former army. 

"Dis-missed!" 

"Aye-aye Sir!"  He did a crisp about-face.  One instance of good in the Karsite system was an almost maniacal insistence on protocol.  They were all in good stead on that count.

Albright wandered down to the working tent area.  There were several tents, color-coded for ease of organization. The white was, obviously, the Heraldic circle.  The Green was the Healer's collegium and the portable house of healing.  Blue was the office of the Lord Marshal and the command staff.  The other tent was also white; it however had a flag flying on the top, indicating that the King was in residence. 

 He steered wide of the Heraldic tents.  No use borrowing trouble.  The king's tent was in a protective ring.  He mentally applauded the organization and protective skills.

"Bright, leader of line gang one four five reporting with general progress."

"OK one four five leader, you're cleared for entry.  His Majesty's in the council tent."

"Aye"

Surprisingly the tent was no more elaborate than the tent that he himself shared with his mates.  There was more stuff, boxes and papers and tables and chairs, but no gilt or spoils or jewels.  Not like a regular King's tent. 

"Heyla, Bright, got the report?"

"Yup, Swede, got everything here."

 This was one of his tent mates.

"Good, wait here 'till  I call for you, 'Kay ?"

"Fine"

Hoshi

Hoshi was happy with the progress of the Army.  Although it was no longer strictly her concern, she was in charge of the Heraldic contingent that was now present.  The trainee's had been sent home.  Several of them had actually been elevated to whites and assigned to Hoshi for their 'internship'.  Considering this was as much Hoshi's internship as theirs, they all relied on the expertise of Murdock, who'd come down as a plain Herald to 'help'.

"…and so ladies and gentlemen, the Holderkin have petitioned for  admittance and I see no reason for denying them. We've checked it out under Truth Spell and most of the allegations against Karse have been genuine.  They really want to join up.  I would suggest a provisional statehood as per the regular admittance until it can be made more permanent.  "

"All approve"

There was a general hum of consensus. 

"Ok next order of business is… cleanup.  We've got a report from the POW camps."  The king nodded and one of the guards went to fetch the report. 

A man walked in, he was of average height, weight, and build.  There was nothing too remarkable, he was blond (half of them were) and well muscled (so were the other half). Nothing Hoshi should have given a second glance. 

She was suddenly hit with recognition.  This was no ordinary soldier.  This was the Lord-Captain commander.  She'd seen that face before. Hoshi lost whatever he was saying; she paid more attention to Albright's tone and person.     

 He had a low, scratchy voice.  It was unusually accented and surprisingly gentle.  His face was angular, but still handsome and unlined.  He could be no more than thirty.  He had a muscled frame, brown and well worked from training and experience.  It was, she mused a very handsome combination.

"All agreed?"

She quickly came to awareness, having no clue what was just agreed upon. 

"Hoshi!"  Sophia hissed, "Where the hell did you go?"

She shrugged.  "I saw something."

"WHAT?"

All the people in the council turned to look at them.  She glared a Sophia.  "It's nothing, just a … feeling.  No need to shout about it."

"Should we be doing anything special or different?"

At this point her éclat with the council was so high; if she'd asked them to fly they'd do their damnedest to strap on wings.

"No, not really.  I just want speak to that one when this is done," she motioned to the retreating back of Albright "to see if things go right."

 "OK.  Excuse me Mr…?"

"Bright" he grunted

"Mr. Bright, would you please stay for a while.  When we're done here Herald Hoshi would like to speak with you."

"Why?"

Half the council turned at this rather unexpected comment.  It was not the practice of prisoners to question orders of any variety, especially in the presence of one or more Heralds.

"She's got some questions for you about the gang lines.  Is that all right?"

" Yes sir!  I don't un-ter-stand very well, I not ketch it"

"Oh, well just wait out there"

"Aye-aye sir!" he crisply turned and left the flap shut. 

The rest of the council session progressed without remark.  Sophia stayed, as did the King and Hoshi.

"What was so all fired important that you had to shout over half the bloody council?"

"Hoshi saw something in that Karsite guy."

"You mean the prisoner?" 

"Yes, I do"

"Well…?"

"It would appear that he is more than what he seems."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I think it would be best if that was explained by him"

The man himself came in and gave a crisp salute.

Hoshi smiled at him and motioned for him to sit. 

"Well my Lord Captain Commander Albright, is there anything you had to say to us?"


	14. What the ...?

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Mr. Perez: for letting me type in class

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Albright 

Ice ran thought his veins.  How the hell had she known?  The others were as shocked as he, but they had their own demon powers to protect them.  He was defenseless.

She smiled, an abstract thought passed through his mind, she was a pretty lady.  She was an evil demon rider, but man was she a pretty lady.  She wouldn't notice if he could just…

"I would do that, my Lord." 

"Damn you get out of my head!"

"I not in your head.  I see what will happen before it happens, I saw you jump over the table and run for the tents."

He paused; she could see things before they happened.  If she could see him jumping before it did, then she… 

"YOU" he bellowed, oblivious to the King and his sister.  "You were the Field Marshal!  You saw my Army!"

"Yes"

Then he fell into a silent appraisal.  This little sprite was the intrepid Valdemaran Field Marshal?  She was short, extremely so, and wore little round glasses that made her look like his old elementary school teacher.  Her long black hair was tidily confined in a tail and she was, most notably, not Valdemaran.  Her voice, while well modulated and articulate, had a nasal, slightly lispy accent.  She had chosen not to wear the traditional white, which is why he hadn't counted her among the other Heralds in the camp.  And the little bow mouth had drawn up into what he suspected was amusement at his expense.  This was the tactical genius, the soldier, and the general? Not on his life.

"You are the Lord Captain Commander?"

The King had finally come to articulate and broke the silent spell of appraisal, which both he and Hoshi were trapped in. 

"Yes, Highness, I am Albright Sol Arum.  Formerly of the Karsite army, now prisoner number 1451."

"And you didn't see fit to mention this?"

"No, my Lady.  It is traditional among Karsites to ritually assassinate the commander of the opposing army.  I did not anticipate the same to myself."

"It would have worked if you not come here to me."

"Yes, Ho-shi.  So it seems"

 She smiled then, fully.  Man was she a pretty little lady. No! his mind shouted, he should not think that of a Valdemaran and a Herald to boot, but got caught up in admiration long enough to ignore the next remark and caught her displeasure with it.

"No believe so.  If the Son of the Sun heard he was alive he try to come back and take him.  Mister 'Bright' will remain as he is.  Unless was something else you want?"

"No, not at all" He heard himself articulate. 

"He could be useful, tactically"

"That would be up to him"

They, all three, turned a penetrating stare in his direction.  He came back into himself.  They were asking- asking! - _If _he wouldn't _mind_telling them more about the Karsite Army.  To him it was a miracle. 

"I've not a place to go.  I cannot return to Karse, mean my head it would, for his Holiness has assuredly a price on it.  I not mind you asking, but there is likely little help I could give."

"They'll have change information soon as possible."

"Yes, and there wasn't much information I was privy to that had not to do with the army.  Need you not worry on that.  We have no other force to try at Valdemar with.  You," he said addressing Hoshi directly, " fixed that."

She shrugged, but still smiled.  The dark eyes sparkled with amusement.  Little minx, she was getting a kick out of having outsmarted him. He'd show her, some little Valdemaran laughing at the best and the brightest of the Karsite army. Unwillingly Albright could feel his own face grinning back. 

"It would seem, then, that the wisest course of action would be to move you from the prisoner work yard to the personal staff.  That way we could keep you on hand without drawing too much attention.  Does that seem agreeable?"

"Hmmm," Hoshi broke eye contact, "Yes, fine. Wonderful."

His pulse was pounding a mile a minute as he contemplated spending a great deal of time together with that little lady in the future. 

"I think it would be best if Albright stayed as a guard.  He's clearly got the skills, and that would give him better access.  Wouldn't you agree, Sophi?"

"Yup, Hoshi?"

She just nodded.

"Albright?"

"Yes, that is fine"

"All right then, I'll tell the lieutenant to put you on the rolls, Guardsman."

"Yes, thank you."

He some how managed a salute and pivoted out of the tent.  Wow.  That hadn't been at all what he expected. Some how he believed he'd been outsmarted yet again, but couldn't quite figure out how. No, he knew how. He'd let a pretty face and lively eyes distract him as they decided his fate. Damned, if they weren't pretty eyes. 

Sophia 

It took little coaxing to get Hoshi to go, but once she did Sophia shared a grin with her brother.

"Was it just me, or are the two of them completely besotted with each other?" 

"You know I'm the empath, that's my line."

He chuckled, "Yeah"

"He is, most definitely. I don't know about Hoshi, though."

"You didn't…"

"No! I don't go snooping around in other people's heads without a damn good reason. Besides," she sniffed, "Hoshi's got some damn good shields."

"You tried!"

"Maybe."

"And you couldn't get in," He hooted with laughter,  " you, who insisted she work on her shielding so you could get some sleep, can't get in!" 

"That," she said, with some severely bruised dignity, "is entirely besides the point.

"Right, I believe you. "

"Well, this certainly complicates things."

"It does indeed."

Sophia took her leave from her brother to think about this alarming development in Valdemaran/Karsite relations. Interesting was the least of the developments. If they had a Karsite Field Marshal who was besotted enough to give them whatever information they demanded that would be a very good thing. But if word got out to the Son of the Sun that this guy was still alive they'd have some major technical difficulties. As if life wasn't complicated enough.

   "Heyla!  You seen Hoshi?"

"Yeah, we just got out of the last council meeting. Why?"

  "She's wandering around with an expression that looks like her dog just died."

"She is?"

"Yup"

"Thanks Janna. I'll check it out."

"She headed over that way, to the workout fields."

"Thanks."

  Hoshi was in the workout field all right. She was beating the stuffing out of something. It looked like a slab of something heavy, wood or brick, suspended by a string from a tree and covered by minimal padding. She was, barehanded and barefoot, pounding at it with fists, feet, knees and elbows. 

"You have better things to do with your time."

"Not really"

 "I do"

"Then why are you here?"

"I think you know why"

"Damn Heralds"

"Hey now, you're one of us too."

"Yes"

"What's that?"

"Makiwara"

"What?"

"Tree covered by canvas quilt padding. Use to strengthen hands and feet. See?"

She displayed her hands. They were rough, even rougher now that she'd been working them. Callus swelled up over the first two knuckles, down the palm, and along the blade edge. Her feet were the same. The knuckles were now slightly red and bloody from the impacts.

"Ouch"

"Not really, you get used to it."

"I'm sure you do."

"So?"

"So what?"

She glared, "I feel you try to poke around in my head. What now?"

"It would seem, from what happened last night, that you're gift has gotten slightly ahead of itself. At least in your personal life. First that little incident with the dream about Cedric and now Mr. Albright Sol Arum." 

She used a word that Sophia didn't know she knew.

"Yes, well, that too. I take it that's never happened before?"

"No. The dreams never about me or mine. Never."

"Hmm" 

"What that mean?"

"That means we have a problem."

"I could have tell you that!" Hoshi glared, angry.

"Oh, lovey, we've all got problems. At least a thought-sensor can block it out. I know you can't block foresight. I'm sorry for having brought you into all of this." Sophia sat herself down under the tree, depression catching up to her. 

Hoshi sighed deeply and sat on the ground, under the tree, with Sophia. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. 

"You see the weapons tent?"

"From here? Yeah."

"I can't. Not without these" She held up the glasses. "You get them for me. I not forget that. You do many things for me. I not forget that either. I have no regret." She sighed deeply again, "Better here than on Nagano. Much better. I'll take the problems as they come. No regrets, Lady Sophia."

Sophia felt her eyes tear up. That was likely the most touching thing one of her Heralds had ever said to her.

 "Damn you I'm supposed to be the empath here."  

Hoshi shrugged, "Sorry"

"No you're not."

She shrugged again, "OK, I'm not."

Sophia couldn't help chuckling. "So what are we gonna do 'bout this?"

"Wait. It will all be well in the end."

"Is that your gift speaking or you?"

"Me"

"Well, hell."

"No, Lady Sophia. Not hell. Just rough."

"Won't argue with a lady who see's the future."

"Good"  


	15. The Holderkin Incident

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it. I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Mr. Perez: for letting me type in class

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say!

Suki 

She was unhappy. Her lady was unhappy so therefore she was unhappy. There was something wrong with Hoshi. Hoshi wouldn't tell her, but it seemed as if something was on her mind and she was troubled about it. Suki hadn't lived with her lady for all twenty-four years of her life without knowing when something was bothering her.

It was odd, it looked as though there was a problem, but she wasn't talking about it. Odd, and troubling too. She had now nowhere to go but the last resort. Cedric. 

"Heyla Suki, what can I do for you?"

"You know what wrong with Hoshi?" 

"No.  You noticed it too?  I knew I wasn't imagining things, she is acting kinda weird isn't she?"

"Yes, very odd. It worry me. She acting like she saw something in the future, but is not talking about it to me" 

" Yeah, I know what you mean. She came in here for me to patch up her knuckles.  Seems as if she was working out on a tree somewhere and dislocated her fingers."

"Ouch" Suki grimaced, having done the same to herself before.

"She wouldn't let me heal it up, she said that she just needed some bandage to relocate the knuckle and put it back in place.  Said it would be better that way."

"It is, build up the protection on knuckle.  She no do that for many moons though. Very painful. Leaves blue and green mark all over hands or days after.  She must really be thinking."

"Pain helps her think?"

"It centers the thoughts, yes."

"Incredible. Heralds are so strange. If they're not out there killing themselves over something they're asking us to speed heal them shut or just walking about ignoring bones poking out of the skin altogether. It's insane. You know Sophia warned me about this."

"What?"

"She said that a relationship with a Herald was next to impossible if you hadn't lifebonded.  That there was just too much stuff in the way. The job, the Companions, the bones poking out of the skin, the complete lack of common sense… "

"I know about it. Same for Samurai in Nagano.  They marry, sure, but no home for long.  Day here, day there, never stay long. Always die young.  Very hard loving one. I know.  I stay with Hoshi all her life. If the Gift not come she would have died long time ago. She was the best and the best always go first. Now she a Herald and in the same boat. She is happy fighting here though, good battle for good masters.  Not like Nagano.  No honor left in Nagano." Suki sighed, troubled, and Cedric put a friendly arm around her shoulders.  "I worry about her, Cedric. She run about all day with strange people. Going to get herself killed. She good, but no one is that good. Then where will I be?"  

"You'll take care of everyone else just like you always do. Well here's to Heralds and the poor souls that love them.  C'mon, I'll buy you a drink.  We ought to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"Anything you want to celebrate."

"Life," she said thoughtfully, "Let us celebrate life"

"To life then" The friendly arm, turned into a friendly hand, held hers all the way to the canteen. 

Hardin 

Hardin's job involved a lot of hand shaking and baby kissing.  That's just the way it went.  Everyone seemed to think that the office of king automatically instilled some kind of supernatural importance, and of course, they wanted a chunk of it for themselves. 

On the way to Garthsholding, in what was formerly Karse, he anticipated if not throngs of people, at least a few who'd want to shake his hand or touch his cloak or something.

What he didn't anticipate was the almost callous coldness of the occupants and there apparent ignorance of his presence.  If nothing else he and his entourage of Hoshi, the Elder councilors, Sophia and Colonel Brandon startled farmers as they were picking up the pieces after the Karsites.

"It would seem, my lord king, that we are not anticipated."  

"It would seem, my lord, that the people have better things to do than line the streets and wave.  Maybe they too have taken damage from the invasion, had that occurred to you?"

"Yes, you majesty, it would just seem as if…"

"Seems mean nothing, m'lord.  Kindly think on what we have to do, not the distraction of a few farmers." 

"Yes, majesty"

Lord Almery was a conniving, deceitful, rat of a man he deserved any and trouble his constituents gave him. Considering that these Holderkin would soon be under his jurisdiction, at least temporarily, Hardin was forced to take him along for the ride.  This left a bad taste in his mouth.  Hardin didn't like deceitful rats.     

They arrived at the main Hold in good time, even if they weren't all riding Companions.  Of all the people he brought with him, Hoshi and Sophia were the most looked at and commented upon in the whole train.  He guessed they'd never seen Heraldic whites before.

"Greetings, headman.  I trust I find you well?" 

"Greetings, King Hardin.  You find us as we are, no more and no less."

"These are a few of my governors who are concerned about admitting you into the Kingdom of Valdemar.  I hope, headman, that you can put this apprehension to rest.  The council has already given its permission, we are simply awaiting the two thirds consent of the states."

"I understand"

"These individuals here are the Governors of the province you will be petitioning into, Lord Almery, Lady Bettie, Lord Gainsfield, and Lord Fullerton.  This is Herald Hoshi, my Lord Marshal's Herald, and this is my sister Herald-Princess Sophia Damodred who is also Kings Own.  This is Colonel Brandon; he's the man you're going to be coordinating with for the Border Patrol.  Any questions?"

 "You allow women to work among you?" 

Garth clearly found this hard to believe. Hardin raised his eyebrows, so that's the way it was going to be. He let his face and tone harden.

"Yes, Headman, we not only allow, but we encourage women to participate in anything they consider fit."

"Women are not able to do such things, my lord King.  Perhaps it would be better if we conducted this inquiry at a later time when the---ladies---have something better to occupy their time."

"These 'ladies' are members of my governors and council.  We will not proceed without them.  There is no one true way in Valdemar, Headman, perhaps we will conduct these inquiries at a time when such a trivial concern is not as important to you."

Red began to rise under the collar of the Headman.  His face turned a charming shade of purple, then puce. He glared suspiciously at the women that made up the entourage. The other officials, all men, seemed distrustful as well. There were no women present. Hardin began to seriously doubt that those Holderkin women were allowed much of anything for themselves, let alone represent themselves.  

"They will be of no concern, your Majesty.  Let us continue the negotiations." 

"Now wait just one hot little second here."

Oh no, not Lady Bettie.  She was old enough to be Hardin's grandma and was still clever enough to run circles around men half her age.  She had a temper like spring storm and held grudges for lifetimes.

"I am Lady Carolyn Elizabeth Braddock de Howard and as a governor, moreover as the chairperson of the congress of governors, I hold say over whether this turd gets admittance into MY province.  I say nay at this moment and for as long as I hold my seat in the congress of governors the answer will always be nay.  Insolent brat.  Didn't your mother ever teach you the proper way to treat a lady? That'll show you for being a hidebound prejudiced fool in this day and age."

She turned her pert little pony right back around and began trotting down the road in the direction they'd come. 

"Damn it.  Hoshi, follow her and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble. You and I, Headman, have some serious talking to do." He dismounted, and came face to face with the Holderkin Elder. "In Valdemar, all citizens, including women, are considered equal and have equal rights to everything.  Perhaps we should talk on making this a priority."


	16. Courage?

Disclaimer:

I don't own it.  I make no profit off of it.  I mean to offend no one's        sensibilities.  Please God don't sue.

Thank You: MOM: I love you

Mr. Perez: for letting me type in class

Miss Sharp: you put up with me for no reason I know

Stelmarta: more than words can say! 

Mattie 

Mattie had a unique Gift.  It wasn't dangerous, like Firestarting, with poor Lavan Firestorm only a generation before.  It wasn't really useful, like Fetching or Foresight.  It wasn't anything fun at all.  The Gift was that she had no Gift. She was the only Herald, among her peers that had no discernable Gift.  There had been others, written about in old texts just after Vanyel's time, not many, but some.  The fact of the matter was that she had no real Gift.  Not one that could be trained, anyway. 

From time to time she got "feelings".  They were sometimes about people, sometimes about animals, though mostly they were about places.  She could tell, for instance, if someone was scared or abused, or if an animal was mistreated, or if a place was 'sick' and some terrible wrong had been done there.  It wasn't a true healing Gift; she couldn't really do anything about the 'sickness', but it was like an awareness of …something.  She got one of those 'feelings' now.  Mattie couldn't quite figure out what to 'do' about it, but she could feel the terrifying imprint of someone's fear on her psychic radar. 

Rationalizing it in her head, she decided that it was the battlefield that was making her 'feel' scared.  It didn't quite pan out, but that was OK in Mattie's mind.  The fear wasn't of dying; the fear was of the change.  Something inside someone had changed and it was making whomever it was half-mad with fear and apprehension.  She'd gotten permission from Hoshi, the senior Herald on site, to wander about for a bit to try and pinpoint the location of this feeling. 

The permission had almost startled her; Hoshi didn't seem like the type to allow her Heralds to wander about aimlessly in search of some nebulous something with a half existent Gift at best.  She'd looked at Mattie, the same penetrating gaze that froze enemies (and small animals) in their tracks, and simply nodded.  She'd even made the remark that sometimes Gifts worked best if they weren't actually being actively used and suggested that Mattie take a stroll around camp to 'clear her head'.

Mattie took up her idea with alacrity.  She changed out of her new, and slightly self-conscious whites, into an old set of breeches and a tunic she borrowed from Suki.  It was green silk with a colorful pattern that seemed so much like Suki it was clear who owned it. She wandered around, now, thinking about what had happened in her life to get her at this point and where precisely she wanted to go from here.

It wasn't easy; Mattie was confused, scared, and just a little apprehensive about this.  It was all well and good to train to be a Herald, but, in cold sober reality, to embrace the responsibility was something else entirely.  She just wandered around and thought, more about her own apprehensions than anything else.  Whether or not she was going to be a decent Herald, if she'd have to face the eventuality of dying on duty, could she have the courage to go out on circuit and face the people who believed in her omnipotence and incorruptibility.  Her mind was occupied with these thoughts to such an extent that Mattie quit walking and sat down on a convenient rock to ponder. 

"Hey-la"

"What?  I…oh, hi.  I'm sorry, am I in your way or…"

"No" he interrupted, "you are not.  We haff, I think, the same purpose to come here, yes?" He looked a little troubled. Mattie's Heraldic instincts took over; she wanted to help in any way possible. 

"If you mean ruminating about random thoughts and worrying about the future, then yes I suppose that we've got a lot in common."

"Ru-min-ate-ing?" He looked even more confused. 

"Oh, um, thinking.  Y'know, um, pondering."

"Oh, thinking.  Yes, I do a lot of thinking here" He frowned again, lost in thought.

"You're Albright, right?"

"Yes, I am he.  How know you, that?" He was cute when he was confused.  

 "How do I know?  Well, Hoshi and I share the same tent and it's kinda hard not to notice when she's a little late coming home, if you get my drift." She gave hima knowing look.

"Hoshi, yes, we…well," He sighed deeply, and blushed. Fair skin was a curse sometimes. He made as if his shoes were of great interest. "You are friends with Hoshi, no?"

"Yes," she said, surprising herself by the thought, Hoshi wasn't the type of person who would usually be a friend to Mattie. "I suppose I am"  

"Tell me something" His looked at her intently.

"Only if it's not in my confidence, I won't tell Hoshi's secrets for you if that's what you want." Mattie felt a little defensive of Hoshi now that she'd realized her new feelings of kindred friendship. 

"No," He said quickly, reassuringly "No that is not.  I am confuded about something."

"I think you mean confused," She corrected with a smile.

"Yes, confused."  He nodded his thanks, " What means it to be a Herald?"

"Oh my." She shook her head and chuckled, "You don't ask the easy ones do you? Matter of fact I was just thinking about it myself.  If I have what it takes to really do this job justice. "

"What make it so hard?  Ride the Kingdom, dispense justice, lead the army. Seems simple to me. Dangerous, but not complicated. It seems not logical to me."

"Well, you're Karsite.  You don't know about Heralds."  Mattie realized what she said and gasped; "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that."

"That ok."  He shrugged, "Right even.  I know that Heralds eat fire, breathe destruction, and ride on their demon horses to steal children in the night.  That is what they teach us back home.  It is a hard lesson to unlearn." Now he looked a little scared.

"That's just propaganda, it'll be better eventually. We're not that bad, I promise.   Heralds, well ... Heralds are just the glue that holds everyone together.  We do everything.  And it's a terribly intimidating image to try and live up to.  I just feel a little lost."  She looked at him, trying to get him to understand.  Suddenly she knew.  "I got this Feeling.  I get them sometimes, about someone's fear.  It was you wasn't it?"

The fear spiked, and then came back down.  Bingo.

"What kind of fear?"

"Fear of change." She thought quickly, about what she'd seen and what Hoshi'd told her about him, and what she'd observed during this conversation " It's Hoshi –isn't it?  You're thinking about her." she cringed, "Augh!  Did it again didn't I? I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry. That's your business, not mine.  It just drives me mad knowing something's wrong and there's nothing I can do. I didn't mean to…"

"That OK." He said placidly and shrugged. He sounded so much like Hoshi it made her smile.  "You try to help, yes?  I need such help. Hoshi is… different.  I know not how to… How do I say this? She is…" 

"You love her." 

He looked startled, and then almost as if a new realization had come upon him, he smiled and laughed. "Yes, I think I do"

"But you can't reconcile the woman and the job." Now she understood his problem.

He growled, a rumbling sound from deep in his chest, "The lessoning of the early years is difficult to ignore, yes?"

"I agree," she said amicably, " 'don't put your hand in the water or the silverpike will bite it off' That's what my momma had to say about fishing in the inlets on the bay. Gave me the willies. Still won't splash, if I can help it. Just think about it, what do you love about Hoshi?"

"She is… smart, determined, trustworthy. I know she will come if I have need of her to be there. She is … Hoshi."

"And she's a Herald. All Heralds have to follow the same way; they have to be smart enough to handle the King's Laws and all the crazies that come their way. They have to be loyal and kind and forgiving, because working for the crown often isn't. The King's got to be able to trust her; she out commanding his soldiers isn't she? She's got to be ready to go at a moments notice. That's just what a Herald does. She's not some kind of super goddess that can be in six places at once, but she'll do her damnedest to be there when she's able and do what she can when she can."

"…and she is a human being with her own follies and dangers to face, yes? I think, Herald, that you have answered your own questions and mine at once. Heralds are as human as anyone else. Think now you can go to work and do that job you are born to do?"

"Only if you can go back to Hoshi and see the woman and not the job that's chosen her."

"It is done, then, I think we have a solid deal."

"When did Karsite Generals get so wise?"

" I think it was when Valdemaran Heralds became so courageous. To face your own fears is no small task."

"To face someone else's is no different. This past month has changed so many things. "

"Yet things will be as they always are, no? We will return to Haven on this day or the next. The army will be there and so will the Heralds. So will the problems and so the solutions will too."

"And so it goes, life goes on and so does the world. Ugh, why can't we ever just stop and try to figure everything out? The Holderkin are still out there and so is everything else."

"Then we will deal with it." He stood up, "come Herald of Valdemar. Let's go find our future."

She let him pull her up and grinned. Yes, things were changing. Yes, they were giant and scary and enough to make a grown woman cry. Life went on. And this life had not yet begun to fight.  


	17. El Fin

Disclaimer: Don't own it, Don't make money off of it. I mean to offend no one's                                        sensibilities. Please don't sue.

Thanks: Stelmarta: this one's for you!

Epilogue 

The road to Haven was a long ride. From Sweetsprings, on regular horseback it was nearly a fortnight, even Companion-back it was eight or nine days. Plenty of time to let a body thing about the future. 

Hardin was the King; his mind was on the future of the Kingdom.  The deal with the Holderkin had fallen through, not surprising considering the attitude of the Holderkin towards the female members of the Council.  They were going to try and form their own state, it was small, but for Valdemar it was a buffer between them and the Karsites.  A much needed buffer if all things were considered.  He had intrigue to return to, the court had given him almost a full months absence from Haven.  The sharks in court would be looking for anything to shoot at him with, but he had an ace in the hole: Hoshi.

Hoshi was, as always, thinking of the future.  The future, for a Foresighted individual, was an open book.  Or it was supposed to be, anyway.  She was still trying to figure out the implications of her relationship with the recently retired Karsite General.  Her foresight seemed to have failed her in predicting his actions.  The night before they left had been the most romantic, and to her mind, the scariest night in their acquaintance.  It didn't mean she hadn't had fun, the Gods knew she hadn't slept all night, but he'd pulled at strings she didn't even know she'd had.  It was a tender area, she was not used to things like commitment.  Last night had been a commitment.  For both of them. It was a future she couldn't chart, but was more than happy to live.

Sophia was in mourning.  As an Empath she knew, intimately, that twelve Heralds and Heralds to be had been killed in the line of duty.  It had been one of the single most tragic days in Heraldic history for a long time.  Not only Heralds, but hundreds of citizens and soldiers had been killed in, what was now called, the Miracle of Sweetsprings, by the plethora of psudo-romantic Bards that inflicted themselves on the populace.  Those who had been there, however, called it simply Black Snow for the spur of the moment invention that had saved countless thousands of lives.  Hoshi was a national hero, they returned in triumph to the capital, but underneath all the trumpeting and parades there was mourning to be done and lives that, now shattered, had to be slowly put back together.  The battle had been won, but the real war was just beginning.  Food, shelter, clothing and basic supplies still had to be found and given to the survivors in the border sectors.  Sophia's job was just getting started. 

Mattie had found the confidence she needed as a full Herald.  Suki was in the first flush of romance with her latest conquest: Cedric, who was trying to figure out what all this had to do with him.  Janna was just getting some much-needed rest from her Companion-back escapades during the battle.  In other words, all was returning to normal in a world where normal was defined by talking horses, objects flying by mental power alone, and slightly quirky women who could see the future.  Valdemar was once again as safe as it ever was, and if it wasn't, well some Heralds somewhere would know, and respond, and try. All anyone can ever do is try.                       


End file.
